a close family friend of ours has been battling brain cancer for some time now. yesterday the doctors said they give her a few weeks at best. we say that all the time when somebody is terminally ill. we say "they give him 6 months," or "they gave her a week." what is it with that? i know what it means, but isn't it such a lie? they can't give ruth a few weeks. only god can give us more time in this life, and only god can take that time away.

sometimes i feel like that makes god seem so cold and distant, just up there like a master puppeteer... deciding our fate based on his whim. but, the truth is that god can give ruth a few weeks, or months, or years. or god can only grant us moments more before we die. in some ways, that puts us all in the same vulnerable boat, that life can end for us any time. on a friends blog, it references james 4:14, saying that we are but vapors that will cease to exist. some of us vapors may linger a little longer, while some may vanish almost as soon as they came to be. i don't know what will happen to ruth. but, i do know that as i sat across from her watching tears fall down her cheeks, and as i heard her say "these are tears of joy..." i knew that ruth gets it. she gets that whatever time she has is a gift from god, and that going home to an eternity of worshipping him will be an even greater gift.