Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose by Bure Candace & Wilkerson Dana

Author:Bure, Candace & Wilkerson, Dana [Bure, Candace]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christian Life, Women's Issues
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2013-12-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

On the Road Again

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

—JOHN 16:33 (HCSB)

As I write this chapter, a tragedy has recently occurred that shocked the nation. A gunman entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and murdered twenty-six innocent children and adults. It is something that has horrified us all, but it is also something that has helped us to reevaluate our priorities in life. I know tragedies happen worldwide every day, and they happen on a smaller scale in the U.S. every day, but we don’t often hear about them. On the one hand I don’t want a daily reminder of the horrors that humans are capable of committing and the suffering that inevitably follows. But on the other hand, they do help us to remember what is most important in life—namely our faith and our families.

When events such as the Newtown shootings take place, we all take stock of our relationships with our family members and with God. We want to make sure our family relationships are strong and healthy. We tend to find it easier to forgive past wrongs and make commitments to be kinder, gentler, more compassionate, and simply better spouses, children, parents, and siblings. Tragedies also typically draw us closer to God. While we may ask why He allows terrible things to happen, we also somehow realize that He is the only One who can really help us through it and give us the peace we need. Only He can make things new and whole again.

One thing we realize when disaster strikes is that life must go on. I don’t want to make light of tragedies and suffering, but whether they happen to us or we just hear about them, we still must make the daily decisions that make up our lives. Even through the pain, numbness, or incredulity, we must complete the mundane tasks of living as well as carry on with huge life changes.

September 11, 2001, was a day that reminded me that life must go on even in the midst of disaster. Like I’m sure it did for all of you, it made me draw closer to my family. It made me want to shield the ones I love from pain and heartbreak. It made me thankful that I have a God who loves me, and it made me want to follow Him more closely. But the events of 9/11 also happened in the midst of a huge life change for my family.

Moving in the Midst of Tragedy

On September 13, 2001, my family was supposed to move from Calgary, Alberta, to South Florida, a distance of about 3,000 miles. Our belongings and cars had already been packed up and shipped, but my husband, two toddlers, and I needed to get our dogs, our personal items, and ourselves to Florida so Val could start training camp with his new team, the Florida Panthers.

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