Selah and be Grateful

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by Lamar Tyler | on February 4th, 2009 | 6 comments

There’s an old musical term that was used in the days of David called “Selah.” It means to pause and calmly think about the specific point that was just made. I read a story over the weekend that really put me on pause and made me calmly think about the implicit point that was made within it. I had to take some time to reflect on the goodness of the Lord in my own life, because what happened to this young lady could happen to anyone.

If you read this story, you will learn about this 20 year old model from Brazil who was about to receive a big break into the modeling world, and literally within a week’s time, everything, including her life, disappeared like a vapor.

Any cut or broken bone could have caused this. A multitude of drinking alcoholic beverages could have caused this. A tampon left in too long could have caused this. It’s difficult to make sense of this kind of gruesome tragedy, where a person’s very body begins to fight itself to death.

What it did cause me to do was reflect on the fact that God has been soooo good to me! When I look over my life and think about the times I could have been killed, maimed or insane, I cannot help but express my gratitude to the Lord for all He has blessed me with.

Life is a gift that should not be taken for granted. When I want to complain about challenges that I encounter from day to day, stories like this make me pause and think about what could have happened.

I wonder what this young lady’s mindset was, as she was laying dismembered in a hospital bed, her hands and feet amputated and kidneys removed? Was she a humble, beautiful person from the inside out, or had she placed too much stock in her beauty? Either way, time and circumstance will happen to a person regardless of how godly or evil they may be.

I mean, this young lady was TWENTY YEARS OLD, at the cusp of becoming the next top international model! Seriously, one minute she had the world placed before her, and the next minute, she was dead.

It really made me stop and give God glory for the life He has blessed me with. That young lady could have been me. Truth be told, it SHOULD HAVE been me.

Stories like this truly make me “selah.”

What about you, BMWK? What kinds of things make you pause to calmly think about and be grateful for the life you have? I know this seems a tad bit macabre, but sunlight and green grass makes me grateful as well. This particular story just hit something in the depths of my soul that caught me by surprise. What about you?

God bless!

~ Harriet

Harriet is a hilariously joyful married woman who resides in northeast Louisiana with her husband who is a restaurant manager. She works for a local University and along with her husband is the proud parent of a 3 year old son and a 10 year old stepson (who lives in NC).

About the author

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler are the creators of the award-winning blog BlackandMarriedWithKids.com . They also are behind the Amazon.com bestselling DVDs Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, You Saved Me and Men Ain’t Boys that explores manhood in the African American community. The Tylers are also the proud parents of four children.

MissJay

Wow just read the story. I saw a little about it but didn’t read it before now. That is really sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.
http://stellarsassysocial.blogspot.com elle denise

Wow… great (sad) read.

Just waking up “OK” does it for me…

elle denises last blog post..American Heart Association: Wear Red Day!
Harriet

@ elle,

I feel you. I went through a period a couple of weeks ago prior to reading about that young lady where I was just very unsatisfied and my attitude was so negative. One complaint rolled from my lips, and it let loose a flood of dissatisfaction I had with life in general. Just ungrateful and focused on what I didn’t have as opposed to all I have been blessed with.

That can create a vicious cycle if not placed in check effectively. I tell you what…this article put me in check, for real. God speaks through all things. I’m no pantheist, but if He has to speak through an article so tragic in order to realize how much He has done for, through and to me, then I’m all for it.

It just really made me stop and increase my attitude of gratitude.
Anna

This is so sad. I can’t help but think about my own kids in reading this story. 20 is so young, her poor family.
Jonesi

I heard about this story and honestly stopped for a minute thinking, “Wow – she is REALLY dead…just like that”. Some people often have buyers remorse and I go through thing I call “life-line remorse”. I think about all the time I’ve wasted being angry, in drama, etc. and just look back wanting those seconds back of my life. I was fortunate not to experience much death growing up but as I get older I am more aware that death is real and does not discriminate. I am very saddened to hear about the death of anyone but when the young die early and in such an awful way, I can’t help but reflect on how greatful I am to have seen 24 years of life
Anna

Jonesi said:
I heard about this story and honestly stopped for a minute thinking, “Wow – she is REALLY dead…just like that”. Some people often have buyers remorse and I go through thing I call “life-line remorse”. I think about all the time I’ve wasted being angry, in drama, etc. and just look back wanting those seconds back of my life. I was fortunate not to experience much death growing up but as I get older I am more aware that death is real and does not discriminate. I am very saddened to hear about the death of anyone but when the young die early and in such an awful way, I can’t help but reflect on how greatful I am to have seen 24 years of life
~~~~~~~~~
This does make one think things differently. It does remind us that we are not owed a thing and that is why some ppl do quickly get married or have kids and they are not ready(You are never ready to have a child but some ppl should never have kids.). I wasted being angry on my first date without the kids, neighbors and co workers when me and hubby went to see “Titanic”. The movie theatre was packed and I was so mad at the woman selling the tickets because she said that we could see the movie but have to sit in different seats. I said this is a romantic/love story movie to watch with the one you love and you are telling me that we can’t sit together. Hubby calmed me down and said “Anna we can still see the movie, we just have to buy tickets now and wait for the next one to start. From that day on I know he was right and I did learn to ‘chill’ through him. The morale of my rant is to accept, appreciate and never let a moment get to you as long as you get the blessing of waking up each day. We are not guaranteed anything but death and taxes. This woman was only 20 and it just proves that you are never to young to die. Her death does raise questions, was it “toxic shock, flesh eating, peanut butter, mad cow disease or not getting shots/vacinations? We need to quit sweating the samll things and appreciate ‘the big picture’ that has been given, chosen for us.

Selah and be Grateful

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