tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749883.post8633887769608047435..comments2023-11-03T04:06:59.105-07:00Comments on Murder Your Darlings: CLBledsoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03142933987365726568noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749883.post-54590570635805971432011-12-17T08:57:51.624-08:002011-12-17T08:57:51.624-08:00Hey Cortney,
It has been a while. Shirley sent m...Hey Cortney,<br /><br />It has been a while. Shirley sent me this blog. <br />I guess several things. First, my wife who is an English teacher, read your blog. She was moved to tears. Most of all about the story, but also about the quality of your writing. <br />Secondly, I have thought of you often. Geography has separated us, but you've still been on my mind. I've prayed for you about three times a week for as long as I can remember. I just prayed that God would bless you and that you would know Him in ways I can't imagine. <br /><br />I've had several ministries since we last saw each other. A great bulk of the time has been spent in the third world. I've seen abject poverty and misery on a scale that is unimaginable. In the midst of that misery, I've observed people come to recognize Jesus (typically not at the hand of my preaching). They came to know Him and found joy. <br /><br />Anyone who could tell you that they "feel your pain" or "understand how you feel" about the past would be doing a disservice to what you've experienced. <br /><br />I can only tell you that pain is real, the world is broken, but there is Hope. You didn't feel that hope because quite frankly, you were in a seemingly hopeless situation. <br />Probably, I was just a kid/young man who saw my hurting cousin, and was trying to point you to the One who has sustained me. <br /><br />I've looked at some responses. Did God give your mom that disease to test you? I don't see that from Scripture or life observation either. Of course, your mom was sick through genetics. But before your mom got sick, she knew the joy of the Lord. <br />Over the years, as the cruelty of life has shown itself evident, I've come to finally begin to realize that people like Aunt Wilma suffered here, but through Christ, have trillions of years of joy ahead of them. <br />It's not a pipe dream, just a future expectation of a promise that God gives. <br /><br />Well, I've got to be careful. This is getting wordy. Know this, as best as a finite creature as I could do, I'd love to be available at any time. Maybe at 39 years of age, I can have further insight that a young man couldn't. My email is brawner22000@yahoo.com. That's the best way I know how to get an initial contact. <br /><br />Your older, grayer cousin,<br /><br />JeffJeff Brawnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749883.post-73190805876312823892011-12-14T10:25:34.812-08:002011-12-14T10:25:34.812-08:00As I have shared with you
previously, my mother di...As I have shared with you<br />previously, my mother died<br />of uterine cancer at 39. Reading<br />this testimony was harrowing<br />for me, and those old imps of<br />questioning reformed on my <br />shoulders; why did this happen<br />to my mother, and to me?<br />The tumor weighed ten pounds<br />toward the end, and the cancer<br />had reduced her weight to less<br />than a 100 pounds, so she looked<br />like a pregnant Aushwitz survivor.<br />I was already 22 and not living<br />at home, and when she had her<br />several month hospital stay,<br />I could only rally myself to go<br />twice; neither time she recognized<br />me. It is memories like these that<br />necessitated our becoming poets.Glenn Buttkushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10680725814199700692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749883.post-89333306693318871822011-12-13T12:17:49.785-08:002011-12-13T12:17:49.785-08:00Thanks.Thanks.CLBledsoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142933987365726568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19749883.post-7394123001895733122011-12-13T08:33:24.615-08:002011-12-13T08:33:24.615-08:00Beautiful Cortney. I hope this gives you much need...Beautiful Cortney. I hope this gives you much needed cartharsis. You are amazing and you have my admiration for your working through the terrible struggle you have faced. And I agree with your conclusions. How could a loving god "test" a child by putting him in this kind of grief and pain. This is genetics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com