Guest Blog from my Mom, Linda Gorman

A letter from Mom and ‘Gramma’:

Human life is precious. My family is precious to me. I have an amazing and courageous husband. I have three of the greatest kids any Mom could dream of having; 1 daughter and 2 sons. I have a 3rd son that married my daughter, he is the best, he is beyond fantastic and he is the father of my two precious grandsons, Taber and Titan. I have a 2nd daughter who came all the way from New Jersey, and as far as I am concerned she has been ‘grafted in’ to our family by God. Whatever adjectives I just used to describe my family doesn’t begin to describe what a blessing and a fulfillment they are to me. I love them all beyond words. We are just regular people living extraordinary lives in God.

I woke up this morning with this quote in my head: “Your life can either be an example or a warning”. This is a quote that we frequently heard from the pulpit from Linda Knight in the first 15 years of The Rock Church. The same Linda Knight who taught me how to pray. The ‘example’ described living the right way and the ‘warning’ described living the wrong way. This morning I saw the news of the passing of Farrah Fawcett and as I was driving in my car this afternoon I heard also that Michael Jackson had died. It is a sad day when anyone dies, no matter who it is. God’s heart is broken. He is a Father.

In the past nine years, I have had the privilege of discovering the true meaning of who my heavenly Father is. I was saved in my late teens, but only began to ‘walk’ with God at the age of 24. Little did I know when this ‘walk’ began what God would require of me. The only way to summarize the past nine years of my life is to describe it with the scripture: “Obedience is better than sacrifice”. I have learned that true obedience will cost you something. It will cost you personally, sometimes in great measure. But that’s okay because when you come out on the other side, your joy will not only be full, but also true, you will know who you are and most importantly you will know the Love of the Father like never before.

Obedience is the key to unlocking God’s destiny for your life. There is no other way, there are no shortcuts. Obedience is the key.

On March 18, 2009, a Wednesday morning, as I was preparing to leave to babysit Taber and Titan, I was watching the news coverage of an American actress; she had fallen while skiing, had hit her head and was in a coma in a hospital.

As I watched I suddenly had a burden to pray for what I thought was her. It came over me suddenly in the form of travail; a place I have had the privilege of visiting many times. I hit the floor and suddenly found myself praying for someone that “they would live and not die” but the depth of the travail that followed was something like I’ve never experienced before. You must understand, I have prayed for 25 years. It came time to leave and I had to pick myself up off the floor with such a heavy burden and yet God lifted it from me. It affected the rest of my day though as I kept thinking of “that person”, even as I drove to be with Taber & Titan.

On Sunday, June 14, 2009 I was privileged to have heard Francis Chan’s message and was really moved when he spoke about how we question God at times, we ask Him “what are you doing?”, and just how absurd that is, that He is the very breath that we breathe.

I suddenly realized on June 17, 2009 who the travail was for.

On June 17, 2009, a Wednesday spent with my grandsons turned into a terrifying moment (see Kathryn’s blog post). We watched as our precious Titan battled for his life, to keep his very breath. I believe, I know we witnessed God breathing life back into him. Neither Kathryn nor I knew infant CPR. As we were witnessing the symptoms of no oxygen on Titan’s face (some of you understand, but I will not detail it), suddenly his little chest just filled with air and he came back to us.

While the experience was terrifying, both Kathryn and I had God’s peace that everything would be okay, it drove home to me firsthand that it’s not ‘what’ you do “in the moment of the crisis”, although of course we were praying and doing everything we could; it’s what you do ahead of time to prepare for unknown circumstances, hearing God’s voice, and acting in obedience to God that can change the course of circumstances. I take no credit for Titan’s outcome, just that I prayed when God asked me to. God is in control of every situation whether we think so or not. He knows what is coming and He is in control.

My Father God loves me and loves my family so much, that He interrupted my life, my schedule one day, for their benefit. Mom’s and Grandmothers, don’t stop praying for your children and your children’s children and your children’s children’s children. I had praying Norwegian great Grandparents before I was born (Tusen takk). This is the greatest legacy you can leave your family.

I give God the Honor due Him, the Glory due Him and the Praise due Him for a happy ending on June 17. He knows everything in advance concerning our lives and we all must stay ‘tuned-in’ to His presence and His voice. The depth of His love for us cannot be measured. He is Love.