Above The Clouds

Taken by Kim Burnette 9/7/16

Dedicated to my friend Bonnie.                                                                         "For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name." ~ Amos 4:13                                                                                                                It has amazed me the times we have flown on a plane, and it might be dark and rainy outside, but once our plane got above the clouds, the sky had changed-- and so it is with perspective.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I found myself entering a world of brutal, unpredictable chronic illness almost 4 years ago and my life was turned upside down. As I lost more control of my body and my life, I felt like I was losing the best parts of myself, but I wasn't. That was the lie that so many of us buy into when our circumstances change.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                We have a choice in how sickness changes us. I have friends who have made illness their identity. This is the easiest thing to do when you battle illness on a daily basis. When that happens, life becomes more and more about the illness and the misery it causes, and less about the person and the life that is still there.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     There is a road less traveled, and I have a very special friend who by example, has shown me that road. My friend has been battling cancer and a number of extremely painful diseases for years now. Her form of complaining which is very rare, is less than most women complain about menstrual cramps. She seeks beauty in the every day of her children and her home, cloud formations, what she finds along the road, all of God's creatures and even the doctor's offices she has to visit frequently.                                                                                                                                                                                                                "When I consider Your heavens, he work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!"  ~Psalm 8:3-6                                                                                                                                                                                I have learned much from Bonnie and how she makes the most of each day, learning more about our world and appreciating everything it holds; embracing her friends and loved ones, to whom she gives much love.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         And so I keep learning from my God to whom I have grown much closer, but I also learn from my dear friend who really gets it.