The Books She Never Got to Finish

This one is tough.

This one will test your faith.

Her name means “eternal life”, but little did her mommy and daddy know that such eternality would arrive so soon. She was only two.

My sister told my wife and me about her a few months ago when the little girl was diagnosed with a very aggressive leukemia. Without chemo she had no chance; with it she had a small chance. It wasn’t good. Her parents had the tough decision of letting her die or trying a risky treatment that had a good chance of keeping her alive if she could live through it. The chances of her living through the chemo were slim, but without it her death was certain.

I could sense my sister’s sadness and her own struggle with understanding it all. Even as Christians, these are the toughest of situations to witness. It quickly reminded me that the things I get bogged down with in life are so trivial. Who really cares about the next Cowboys game, or who will win between Obama and McCain, or when the next episode of my favorite TV show comes on? All I could ask myself was, “What if this was Chloe, Sidney or Quinn?”.

Then I would cry.

Her parents were related to a good friend of my sister so there was some emotional distance between us and them as we received the updates. We didn’t know them at all but as parents, Christians and fellow human beings, our hearts and prayers were with them. Since my wife and I have become parents we almost have to plug our ears and cover our eyes when a story about a hurting child comes our way. It’s just too much. We have two girls that are three and baby boy that just turned one. Only a parent can understand the tie that binds the heart of a parent to a child. Nothing is stronger. Nothing.

My sister had started spending time with the toddler at the hospital during her treatments in order to allow her parents a chance to rest. She would call us and sadly tell us about the child’s demise and how the medicine that could save her was destroying her. I will never forget the image that came to my mind when she told us about a doctor who came in to give her treatment that just stood there and cried like a baby over her. “It never gets easier”, the doctor said.

The Bible says faith without works is dead and certainly death without faith is even worse. But sometimes tears are all that faith can muster. There are no words another can say. There are no answers that make sense. And certainly nothing explains how a little girl that was reading books in her mommy’s lap a month ago is now gone. Sometimes the only thing you can do is cry and hold on. You have to depend on family, friends and even strangers for prayer, because words simply won’t come out.

For a long time Julie and I cried deep inside about this little girl. But, tonight we cried out loud.

She is now with a broken hearted Jesus; a Jesus that cried as He watched her suffer and hurt, a Jesus that couldn’t bare it anymore and called her home, and a Jesus that now holds her in His arms and weeps for the suffering of her family.

The questions we have will not be answered here and the pain many have will only slightly dim in time. But faith, even collected as tears, is an incredible guide to the life beyond the here and now. And surely, she has been restored, healed and is happy once again.

Her short but courageous life is a reminder to us to all to focus on love, the beauty of family and the strength of faith.

Though in our minds she went too early, Eternity was always her destination. And now for years to come she will be a star showing us all how to get there.

In time, she will sing and dance with mommy and daddy once again. But for now, little Skylar plays with Jesus and reads the books she never got to finish.


“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:4


(Skylar – female, English – eternal life, strength, love, beauty)
http://baby-names.adoption.com/search/Skylar.html


© 2008, J. Brady

"I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."

Why All the Hate

Election time never brings out the best in people.

Name calling, slander, empty promises, and character badgering are just a few of the actions you will witness on any given day beginning months if not years before election day. Politicians and supporters of those candidates go at it with no regard of the scars that could remain from such behaviors.

Yet only in America can those that once aggressively demeaned another suddenly be best of friends later. Even going as far as becoming running mates none the less.

However, as a conservative voter over the last 20 years, I have watched an unbalanced shift take place that concerns me. What was once political process and banter has turned into hate spewed speeches, lopsided media coverage and personal attacks against various candidates, especially those whose policy platforms are center-right. A line has been crossed and though both parties are to blame, a majority of the evidence lies on the side of those that call themselves liberal.

Somehow it has become acceptable for a liberal to espouse his hate of the conservative platform, getting moral support from celebrities and media outlets all along the way. Yet, how dare a conservative like me stand up, ask a few tough questions or suggest a search for truth regarding one of their own.

They fear the conservatives.

We are called “the religious right” or “Jesus freaks”, violent anti-war protestors (go figure?) show up by the thousands at our conventions, musicians write anger filled songs about us, and certainly we are viewed as intolerant, old-school and out dated. We aren’t cool.

But it makes no sense. What are people afraid of?

Us “right-winged crazies” support most things this nation was founded on. It’s nothing scary. Ideals as simple as:

1. protecting life and the right of the unborn to have a chance
2. acceptance of personal responsibility instead of governmental dependency
3. free enterprise and the ability to “live life to the fullest”
4. lower personal and business taxes so that businesses like mine don’t have to layoff workers (after all I am not going to fire myself when I have to send more to the government)
5. the constitutional right for us to have guns and protect our families from would be rapists and murders
6. privatized healthcare - our doctors are the best in the world and all nationalized systems in other nations are huge failures
7. the right to choose where our own tax dollars and children are educated whether it be public, private, charter or home schooled
8. strong military that evokes fear in our enemies yet earns respect with our allies
9. religious freedom
10. constitutional judges that refuse to legislate from the bench
11. reduce government wasteful spending on unnecessary ear-marked programs and dependency handouts

You could sum all of this up into one overall ideal; LESS government. The bigger the government, the bigger the budget and the greater the failure the nation will become. Our founders came to this land for that very reason and it’s time to empower the people again. We are a nation full of creative, smart, and hard working citizens that have the capacity to solve any problem, tackle any issue and prepare for any future. We the people, not we the government. That is where our hope lies.

Survey 10 random people if they support the listed ideals above without asking for their party affiliation or giving yours away, and you would likely hear 8 of them say that is exactly what they want in their government. It’s a no brainer. If I stood up as a democrat and gave out the same list, I might even get 10 out of 10 to agree!

Yet, because we Republicans stand for such conservative thinking, we are hated.

But it doesn’t end there.

Over the last few presidential elections the liberal left has taken it a step further by claiming that any and all personal investigations of any and all democratic candidates is nothing but personal acts of hate and racism. How dare we ask tough questions about a person running for election who might end up being the most powerful leader in the world. How dare we study and share the truths our discovery leads us to about them.

On the other hand, it is perfectly fine and expected that a liberal would spew hate and blog their anger towards all conservatives in any form or fashion. Apparently the left media now has their right to print what they want, support who they want biasedly, say what they want and interview who they want. But in no shape or form should a conservative even remotely come close to appearing to do the same.

The Obama camp says we cannot talk about his faith, his friends, his upbringing, his admitted drug use, his connections to crooks and unethical people, his wife, his America-hating preacher, his confusing Muslim/Christian past, his education, his forsaken brother in Kenya that earns $1 a month, his black liberation theology church, his easy career and even his ears.

If we do, we are spewing hate, anger, lies and personal attacks.

Yet this is not?

“I hate Republicans and everything they stand for…You know, the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. It's pretty much a white Christian party…a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives." Howard Dean, Democratic superstar.

Since Howard Dean made those comments over the course of many months in 2005, much harsher things have been said about conservative leaders by the likes of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Senator Edwards, Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama and nearly every other Democratic political figure outside of Joe Liberman. Throw in the nearly every Hollywood celebrity and most news commentators outside of Fox News Channel and it becomes clear why conservative values are not the trendy ideology of our day.

Their recent attacks on Governor Sarah Palin and her teenage daughter are nothing short of some of the most sexist things we have seen done in decades. Feminist should be ecstatic over her sudden rise. Yet, their true colors are coming out as they stand with Oprah refusing to admire, admonish or support her. Sadly, some in America still have a long way to go to get to the level they preach we all should be at as people in 2008.

Don’t be fooled by all of the hate. What’s right, is right.

Even if the left says it’s wrong.

“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22


© 2008, J. Brady

”I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."