FORREST GUMP INSPIRED ME DURING A HARD YEAR

Life isn't always like a box of chocolates-- you never know what you are going to get.  I think life is sometimes like a booster shot.  It may hurt for a moment but it will produce something good.

With Thanksgiving coming up soon, and because of so much suffering around the world right now, sometimes it is difficult to think of things for which to be thankful. One thing I am thankful for is that the 2016 election is over! I believe that God guided the whole thing and that His perfect will will be done no matter what!  Maybe Christians in the U.S. will be able to work and do business according to their beliefs now. I am praying so.

In looking back for other things for which to thank God I ran into this letter I wrote many years ago to the editor of our local newspaper. I share it with you now:
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I am thankful for the movie "Forrest Gump." This year has been exceptionally difficult.  My husband and I lost two parents, we continue to deal with my chronic pain, our church closed, (it was a plant from Northshore Baptist.  The "Solid Rock" church was supposed to appeal to street people.  We met on Thursday nights.  The problem was that we were meeting in the Northshore church building and there weren't many street people in Kirkland, WA.), and also our dog ran away.  We think she went off somewhere to die.  She was blind and deaf.  We put up flyers and my friends helped us look for her.  We grieved for her like we would any family member. Our family is reeling from the emotional impact and the transitions we must make.  And so "Forrest Gump" cheered us and encouraged us to look up.

In the movie, when Forrest was in the swamps of Vietnam, the rain was pouring down, and he was cold, wet, and tired, he looked up and noticed how beautiful the sky was.  When he was failing in his shrimp business, he didn't wallow in self pity-- he just looked for the good and kept working and trusted God.  He didn't rollover and die when his girlfriend left him-- he started to do something and put one foot in front of the other and continued on.  

So we followed Gump's example and looked for the good.  For one thing, God has blessed the Northwest with incredible beauty-- in the scenery and in its people.  We are thankful for that.  Another blessing is that we had a special year with the Solid Rock church--the elders laid hands on me and prayed that God would heal me--our cat went into remission from his diabetes after that prayer.  A group from the church took our teen son to Mexico with them to build houses for those who were living under tarps.  It was a wonderful eye opener for him.  They supported us and comforted us through it all.  Even though this has been a year of loss, we count it as one of the best, because we learned to look up, and be thankful.  We, like Forrest Gump will look up to God, and trust in Him.