Yesterday's worship service was very emotional for me, as well as several of my dearest friends. One friend, very dear to my heart, was preaching and another was singing a solo. These two fellows go way back in ministry together...having been on staff as pastor and music minister in more than one church. They and their wives also happen to be some of my dearest friends in the world.
Barry sang a solo, "Praise the Lord". It's a song he does very well...and he has done many times. His voice was soaring, when he got to a verse that talked about life's storms, and his voice cracked with emotion. I was sitting with my daughter, Casie, on the 2nd pew, and looked at my precious friend, Vicki, in the choir loft. She is Barry's wife, and she is dealing with her newly diagnosed breast cancer. My tears were already flowing, and I saw hers as well. This was a small congregation, and one that is very close, and there were many tears as Barry struggled with his emotion, and then finished the song, once again soaring. Mark got up to preach, and his topic was "The Bottoms in Life". So relevant, as we all hit bottoms. One thing he said was that he and Vicki had been talking the day before and she had said "the bottom is solid". I nodded my head in agreement.
I've been to the bottom very recently, with the dissolvement of my family. My prayers and dreams for reconciliation were not to be, and I am now healing, rediscovering and redefining. I have and continue to go through all the vast array of emotions as I recover...denial, disappointment, woundedness, anger, disillusionment, grief, joy and healing. As a believer in Christ, I can honestly say that when I hit the bottom, yes, it was solid. God was right there to catch me. I thought about my precious friend, Vicki. She is at a HUGE bottom in her life. Cancer...what a scary diagnosis to receive. I can't even imagine how I would be feeling. A lump in her breast, that spread to her lymph nodes. She has had 3 surgical procedures in two weeks...a lumpectomy, lymph nodes removed in one arm, and a port installation for her upcoming chemo. Today she is getting a full body pet scan to see if the cancer has spread anywhere else. She has an "army" of people praying for negative results today. Her life has been turned upside down in the last 4 weeks, and will be for quite some time. And yet, SHE is the one who said "the bottom is solid". Mark, our dear friend who preached, whom I have known since college and have been honored to be pastored by and friends with, hit a bottom eleven years ago this month, with the acknowledgment of his battle with alcoholism. He now speaks at AA meetings and his wife, my friend Janie, speaks at Al-Anon. They minister to addicts all the time. But eleven years ago, he had disappointed himself, family, friends, and his church congregation. He lost his job and spent 90 days in rehab. He is an example of someone who not only hit the bottom, but who found it solid. And with God's help and alot of hard work, he is no longer on the bottom, but soars through life, still ministering and still helping others. A friend sitting behind me has hit bottom with a past divorce, suicide of her ex spouse, drug addiction in her family, and a recent death of someone close to her.
I thought of how blessed we all are. We are so loved by a gracious and merciful God, who catches us at the bottom. The chords of friendship among each other have held us together through all kinds of bottoms....and the chords have grown stronger with each pit we have climbed out of. We're smart enough to know that we can't climb out of the pit for one another, but we can lean over and give each other a hand. We're even the kind of friends that will get down in the pit WITH each other, if that's what it takes. Not hitting rock bottom together, but getting down there to help the one who's hit the bottom, and to offer the acceptance, love, support and encouragement needed.
I can't imagine going through life's bottoms without a close walk with God, and I can't imagine going through life's bottoms without close encouraging friends at your side.
I thought of my girls, one a young woman in her twenties, and one a young teenage woman. They've already had a tougher time than I would have wanted for them at a young age. And as much as my maternal instincts want to protect them from the rock bottoms in life, very few of us get through life without hitting a bottom of some sort. My prayer for them is that they will believe that God will be at the bottom when they hit, and that they will recognize Him when they are there.
Another point that Mark made, (he had four - but I'll only address this one) is that the best way to get out of the pit when you hit bottom is to begin and continue with a spirit of gratitude. If all you can say at that point is "Thank you God for being here", or "thank you that I'm alive"...that is enough. Whatever you find, it IS enough. The crazy and wonderful thing about gratitude, is that once you start it, your eyes will open more and more to blessings around you. You will begin to see things differently, and in a positive way. I know that God has done His most amazing work in me when I've been at the bottom. I certainly don't like it there, but I can honestly say, that the bottom can be the beginning of something amazing.
