Rhythms
Blog post description.
Coalt Robinson
6/9/20265 min read
In life, there are rhythms. Sometimes we think we are stuck in them and tell ourselves we are in a rut. I remember a time in my life, in college, when I didn’t have many friends, and it seemed like every weekend there was nothing to do — I felt like I was stuck in a rut. I believe it was my dad's words that came to mind; he said we must take responsibility for our boredom. So I found some things to do and made some new friends. Wake up, go to work, come home, and go to bed. Sometimes we feel stuck in the normal, and we long for something exciting, some change, something to look forward to. Have you ever been there — longing for something more? I have found in my life that I am often dissatisfied with the ordinary and often long after something more. Perhaps you are reading this and finding yourself longing for something bigger and better in your life. I don’t think that is wrong, necessarily. Spiritually speaking, many find themselves longing for something more. When I was younger, we called them “spiritual highs” or “mountain top experiences,” and we longed for them because we felt we were in a spiritual rut and needed “more.” The more mystical parts of Evangelical Christianity tout great signs and wonders to make people feel that their hunger for something more is satisfied. The problem? The problem is that there is always a longing for something more, something bigger and better. Michael Horton wrote a book titled “Ordinary: Sustainable faith in a radical, restless world,” which I highly recommend. Horton makes the case that the Christian life is built around certain rhythms, which we call the ordinary means of grace. The Christian life is sustained by ordinary rhythms such as public preaching of the Word, Bible study, Prayer, accountable Church fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper. These are to be the rhythms of the Christian life, where the Lord both sustains and grows our faith. One of the great problems in the church today is the restless person who continues to long for “more” and searches for signs and experiences while neglecting the means that the Lord has so richly provided for the growth of His people.
It isn’t only those who are searching for more who neglect the ordinary means that God uses to shape and grow us. It is those of us who are satisfied with how life is, too. This was me. I was ashamed to admit that, but I have gotten over it because you have been there too, if you are honest. I liked the rut of life. Being a husband, a dad, and a pastor brought great satisfaction, and although I didn’t see it at the time, I have come to realize just how much I neglected the ordinary. Obviously, when you have a child diagnosed with cancer, it throws a wrinkle in it all, touching everything that once brought mindless satisfaction. I was thinking about all of this recently. We got back from Gage’s checkup at the Mayo Clinic yesterday, but a couple of weeks ago, Gage mentioned he wanted to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. It is so interesting that even a four-year-old senses that it is about time to go there again. I have had people that I don’t know well stop me in the store and say something like, “I know it is about time for you all to go to Mayo again, we are praying for you.” What has interrupted our lives has become a rhythm of life.
Gage and I were talking about going to the Ronald McDonald House, and he told me that he wanted to go there but didn’t want to get the owie. That part has become part of the rhythm. I started talking to him about being brave, and he told me that Huggie Wuggy was really brave and that he was Huggie Wuggy (He’s a bit hard to understand, but I am pretty sure that is the gist). Based on that conversation, I found a Huggy Wuggy plush toy and ordered it for him to help him feel brave, but it didn’t arrive until the day after we left (see the picture). We were at Gage’s appointment and ended up, where we always do, in the MRI room, where they are going to put him to sleep. They put a mask over his mouth that smells like grapes, and he falls asleep, and then they put in the IV and take blood and do all of that. Well, Gage is crying because he knows they are going to put the IV in while he is sleeping, and he will wake up with it in his arm, and he hates that (his words, not mine). He kept talking about owies, and the anesthesiologist said they wouldn't give him any. And to her benefit, she was not trying to be deceptive; she was thinking that he would be asleep when they put the IV in and all of that. Gage stopped crying after she said they would not give him an owie, looked her straight in the face, and said, “You are trying to trick me.” He knows because he has done this before, and he really doesn’t like waking up with an IV in his arm (along with all of the other things they have on him). Rhythm.
There are so many things that fall into the category of “rhythm,” some are getting more “comfortable”, and others are things I am pretty sure we will not get used to. Often, the MRI results appear in the portal before we meet with the doctor. I can’t decide whether it is better for the doctor to tell us the results or for us to already know them when we walk into the doctor’s office. In the end, I have always looked at the results that were available to us. I don’t like reading the report on my phone, and thinking that, even though this is ‘doctor speak,’ it doesn’t sound very good. Would it be better if the doctor told you that and then explained the details? I am not sure. This time, when we had the report, it sounded like positive news. When the report sounds good, the next step is to read it again to make sure you understand it correctly. Then I ask Desirae if she took it the same way I did. She did. We met with a doctor on Gage’s team, but not his doctor this time. Gage’s doctor had a baby! She should be back the next time we go to Rochester in September, and Gage will be excited to see her because he loves her (again, his words, not mine). The doctor we met with was very good and thorough as he examined Gage and explained his test results and MRI findings to us. The lesions on Gage’s bones around his eyes and on his skull are all stable, and there are a couple of places that might have even decreased in size. This is good news.
Thank you for your continued prayers. It means the world to us to know so many people continue to pray for Gage.
