Above Ground and Limber (Be Thankful)

Some years back, I called to check on a longtime friend; he answered the phone and I asked him how he was doing. His answer, “Well brother, I’m above ground and limber!” [Thanks Bro. William Borden for that one-liner; I have often used it since that day.] After the two years we all have been through, if you are reading this—you got through it. Yep, you are “above ground and limber!” Be Thankful!

I still get emotional when I read through my prayer list and see the names of folks who I had often prayed for, whose names now have “DECEASED” written next to it. We who are “above ground and limber” were not any better or more righteous than them. Only God knows why one was taken and another left.

As we see the world unraveling around us, maybe those who went first are the ones most blessed. Another phrase I have latched onto is, “You can’t threaten me with Heaven.” For the child of God there are a lot of things that are worse than dying.

However, of all the things I am thankful for, being alive is one of them. More importantly, there are those around me who are “above ground and limber”. I am thankful for the opportunity to live another day and the prospects of serving God and helping my family and others another day, month, year, perhaps a decade or two.

I know now more than ever; my next breath and heartbeat is in the hands of God. There is no way I can emphasize to you how content and peaceful I am with that reality. Our Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son has made me ready for Jesus when He is ready for me. I have a few more things I want to do, but my ultimate destiny is beyond the finiteness of this fallen world.

We all have been blessed. Many of us may have items we have moved from our “shopping cart” to our “wish list”, yet, we all have been blessed. We are “above ground and limber”. We have lived to fight another day, so be thankful.

To those of you who have empty chairs at your family table this year, we have cried and prayed for you. Some of those who have gone to Heaven of your blood family were our faith family. We are still grieving, though your grief is deeper. The night is about over, and the day will break when you will see them again with our glorious Savior.

We all remember having a terrible dream and were awaken to precious relief that it was only a dream. One day when we arrive on the Glorious Shore, this life compared to Heaven will be like waking to relief that the nightmare is over.

But until then, we are “above ground and limber”, so love, laugh, and labor for the Kingdom of God. Worship God and bless others.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! WE HAVE MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR AND MUCH TO DO!

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt

Philippians 4:11-12 NKJV
(11) Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
(12) I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.