How jumping on your bed for 10 minutes can turn into treasure

[This is a guest post from my friend Luke. Although I would agree with him that his hair is way worse than mine, I have to say that Luke has the most consistently funny and creative tweets/face-book status of anyone I know. It really is not even close. You can follow him on twitter here and be his Face-book friend here. Don't let his beard scare you]

Hey friends of Sammy! This is Sammy’s good buddy Luke. Much like your friend “S Dog” (that’s what I call Sammy behind his back) I am also a pastor… just a lot less cooler and with worse hair.

Usually S Dog is taking all my money at our bi-weekly poker game but today he asked me to write a guest blog for him. Here goes…

Something happened to me last Saturday that I wanted to share. It wasn’t anything earth shattering… or even out of the ordinary. In fact, this thing that occurred is special to me because of just how normal it actually is.

Here’s the skinny. My wife and I had our first born son in the fall of 08. Jackson was carried full term and was perfectly normal. In the early summer of 09 (Jackson was nine months old) he got deathly sick and we had no idea what was going on.

After many tests and a nervous week of waiting, we discovered that Jackson had a rare pancreatic disorder where his pancreas leaked poisonous fluid into his abdomen. We spent 4 months at St. V’s in Toledo that summer and Jackson endured many painful surgeries. I remember one morning I woke up to hear the ICU nurses saying “We are losing him… he’s not breathing…”

Just like a TV show, they rushed us out into the hallway and bunch of lights started flashing. A nurse had bumped Jackson’s breathing tube and cut off his air supply while changing the bed. They got him breathing within a few seconds but I was so scared.

Today God has blessed my wife and I with another son. Asa is seven months old and perfectly healthy. Jackson is by no means cured… but at this point everything seems to be under control. We have to wait until this fall to see if the latest surgery 100% worked. At any moment the leak could reopen and we’ll be back in the OR for surgery #17.

Other than a slight speech delay and some eating problems, Jackson is doing extremely well. He plays all day long, is growing and developing, and keeps us on our toes. My wife and I feel blessed beyond belief…and everyday is a gift.

So last Saturday Sara was making our bed, before we both had to run off for a long weekend at church services. Of course this meant that Jackson wanted to jump on the half made bed. Usually I would have said “No buddy, mommy is working right now…” but this time I jumped up with him. For ten minutes we jumped to our hearts’ content and Jackson laughed and laughed.

I don’t know the last time you heard a toddler let out a nice big belly laugh, but it is a wonderful sound- The pure, innocent joy of a young life. It is easy for me to get caught up in the rushed business of “normal life,” and forget about these small treasures that God gives me every day.

I think back to that time at St. V’s where I thought the worst…and what I would have given up for just one moment like last Saturday. At one point back then, Jackson went a whole month without smiling… no joke.

I love that little boy so much… I can’t even think about what God went through to give up his son… to be separated from Jesus, even for a little while.

So sometimes I thank God because I think I’m supposed to… sometimes I get down on my knees, lay open my heart and soul… and thank Him because I have to.

Yesterday I challenged you to see Gods glory thats all around you. Today I want to know...

What are some small treasures God gives you in your normal everyday life?

Also, PLEASE do me a favor. If you're reading this, will you please join me and pray for Jackson in the comments? Lets pray that surgery #16 is the last one.