Sean, Laura and Lizzy, Megan, Michael and Heather--their stories last Thanksgiving Eve moved us to tears and moved us to worship our good and gracious Father. OneWord Journal followed up with these grace-filled people to find out what God has been doing in their lives one year later.

First, Sean.

"Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he prays; it is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings.

I used to think that years and years of maturity as a strong believer resulted in great, perpetual clarity of understanding, not only with one's theology, but also with life itself. Now I see that this side of eternity often remains painfully mysterious even to a strong believer. When I read those lyrics (above) from a great hymn, I recognize the word "sometimes."

Rather than having arrived at some kind of utter clarity at this stage of maturity as a believer, I'm learning instead simply to appreciate the "sometimes." The glimpses of joy in all of life that sneak up unexpectedly . . . the simple goodness found in the "daily"ness of life or worshiping at church with family and friends.

This leads to another quote from 1 Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." I appreciate the honesty of this verse--acknowledging that even in close fellowship with the Lord as believers, our view of eternity is often dim in our journey. But in this verse is a subtle twist that gives me great joy. Though we now see dimly, we at least see something.

Through Scripture, I have the joyful clarity of the gospel.