So Sprint has an add right now in which a little boy has his tongue frozen to a pole....and someone brings a bucket of water and unfreezes the little guy's tongue. "Free yourself from calling circles" is the tag of the add. Anyway I am reminded of a little story entitled a sweet wonderful girl gets her tongue stuck on a rabbit cage...here's how the story goes:

Once upon a time, two lovely girls lived in a lovely house on a lovely street in Colorado. They had two rabbits who lived in a dog run in the back-yard of the house. One cooooollllld night the two sweet, wonderful girls went out to bring gifts of food and water to the rabbits. One of the girls spots the perfect crest of snow, laying on a cross-beam of the cage, waiting to bring moisture to her dry mouth. She balances ever so carefully on her tip-toes before her tongue reaches the snow. As she licks, suddenly she notices that as she tries to stand square on her feet, alas she is left dangling by her tongue which is frozen to the pole beneath the snow. She screams for help and her sister rushes inside...perhaps to get help, and perhaps because she is scarred by the image of her sister's predicament. At any case the girl, frozen to the cage, desperately shrieks "aye ung e esen ew e ole" (my tongue is frozen to the pole...in frozen tongue language). Then garnishing up all of her strength, she rips her tongue off the rabbit cage. She lived to see the next day...but still wonders if her tongue has fully recovered.

So what does this have to do with life and faith? Absolutely everything. Have you ever been completely stuck? Ever been frozen in place and your focus is narrow and all you can see is the huge problem in front of you and so you panic and react as quick as you can? Been there done that....tongue still feels the pain. Really, had I stood out in the cold for a few more minutes, help would have come and a warm glass of water would have brought sweet release and I would still be able to taste fully today. The Bible says, "Be still and know I am God." Be still....wait upon the Lord.... peace be still. Rescue is coming if you can wait, stay still, and have faith. We are not called to be reactionary people. We are called to be people who stay still, people who wait, people who trust..... people who wait patiently until the living water makes our frozen places restored .

Its been a really tough week this week. I found out that one of my teenagers from my old youth group in Colorado committed suicide. I remember this kid well because she was one of those unforgettable kids. She cracked me up regularly but also had this deep compassion for other people. In our youth program she was a leader kid...one of those that always came, and one of those you looked forward to seeing every time.

They say she was in some trouble and didn't know where to turn. This week, I heard stories of the brokenheartedness of her friends and her family and I know they would have been there for her had she made the choice to turn towards them. Tomorrow is the funeral and many of those who loved this woman will be gathering to share memories and stories and just to be a support to one another in this horrible, awful situation.

It seems that a lot of people wonder where God is right now. When life hurts so much, where did God go. There is a song by Third Day called "When the rain comes". The lyrics say "I can't stop the rain, from falling down on you again. I can't stop the rain but I will hold you till it goes away." I love this song because it makes sense in my head. Rain happens and God doesn't make it go away...but God is with us in the middle of the storm and there is comfort in that. I know there have been times I have been absolutely furious with God and thought God had just left me alone to fend in the dark places. But I didn't understand....Bad things happen and at the same time God is present, holding us and crying with us. God does not make bad things happen, but God also does not keep bad things from happening. God is very real and very present, and very much holding us and weeping with us when life doesn't make sense.