What now?

We are coming up on Jordyn's death anniversary, but we are also coming up on the anniversary of my brother falling down the steps at our house.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 NIV

I had someone ask me an interesting question this week. What do we do now? “We live”.

The stage was set for that. We had the Free Spirit Run on Saturday morning with over 100 participants. We raised around $4,000 for the Jordyn Claiborn Memorial Scholarship at Fort Hays State University.

It is a positive way to get the heart moving again. My wife looks at it as one act of service she can still do for Jordyn. She accepts very little help for that reason. Our house was immaculate. Our yard was beautiful. I am proud of my family. We have faced this well. Hard. Ongoing. But faced with faith in the One who gave her to us in the first place. Thankful. We were ready to celebrate.

Then we got a big dose of life. My brother Dave, all 6’6” 280 pounds of him tripped going downstairs. You can see the scuff mark on the wall by the top step. There is a very curious but perfect hole in the wall about 5 feet up on the other side. There were more scuffs and there was a terrible spot on the cement wall where his head hit. We heard every impact.

When I rounded the corner, you could tell it was bad. He was unconscious. He was twisted and I will not forget the look on his face any time soon. I checked his breathing. None. We moved him enough to straighten him out so I could do chest compressions. That move also revealed that his head was cut wide open.

After about a dozen or so of those compressions I heard the first gasp of air. It’s funny, the sound I miss the most from our daughter is literally the sound of her breath when laughing. Dave’s first gasp for air was as sweet as any sound on earth. From that point on I just held his head to apply pressure and talked to him. At that moment, nothing else mattered to me.

Have you ever seen the Steeple Chase in track? I always wonder who in the world invented the event. Why so many barriers?

I know who designed the race I am running. Why did He include so many barriers?

Challenge: I can ask the question “What now?” two different ways. I can be frustrated with God and shake my fist wondering what else is coming. I can also just ask Him “What now?” knowing He is right there with me.