Hachi

Thursday, May 27, 2004

3:09 pm

...Chad will be finishing his first full week of radiation today. So far, we're looking great. He's gained back the weight he lost during Interferon, and is really rather hysterical these days. He's always been a funny guy, but he's raised the bar lately! It's our understanding the radiation becomes more difficult as the weeks pass. Keep that in your "Chad prayers" and we will keep everyone updated, of course. Radiation will wind up around June 24th, at which point another PET Scan will be scheduled. I know I've told you before, but a reminder never hurt anyone. Prayers are the number One need for the Sullivan Family. Healing, strength, faith...we need it all and look forward to sharing God's glory with all of you when Chad is healed.

I know I've told you before, but all the support you continue to show is overwhelming. Mom and Dad and I were at an engagement party this past weekend and every time I turned around someone else was asking about Chad, telling us they are praying for Chad, asking what they could do for Chad. John Montgomery prays every morning with his prayer group at the Presbyterian Church...Phil Veatch keeps Chad's name on his desk to remind himself to pray...Bob and Claudia Odom have been nothing short of a Godsend...and that doesn't even scratch the surface! So many people are at work in our lives. You are each and every one an individual blessing! Every single prayer you lift up is appreciated more than any of you will ever know. I say that with the greatest amount of sincerity. Thank you.

Hugs to you all. Until next time...

Marti

I apologize for not getting back online to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The Sullivan Christmas was a little crazy and unconventional, and we were thrown several curve balls. All in all, however, it was a great time...I am mighty glad to get back to normal, though.

I have about a thousand things rolling around in my head these days, so let's see if I can get gather them into any sort of productive and coherent thought process. I have been having some trouble with that here lately...

I saw a movie trailer last week for a movie starring Richard Gere, Hachi, that came out this past year. It was based on a true story about a dog in the 1920's that walked his master, a professor at a nearby university, to the train station each morning, and met him again each evening to walk him home. One day, his master suffered a stroke while in school, and he never returned home on the train that evening. The dog, Hachi, only about 18 months old at the time, was given away after his death. Hachi never, ever, stopped going to the train station each evening to wait faithfully for his master. He ran away from every home he had, to end up a stray, arriving each evening at the same time to wait for his master in the last spot he ever saw him. His ritual went on for ten years. Ten years he waited faithfully for his master, before dying alone on the street.

Well, it was an Eight Belles kinda moment. It must have been time for some crying because I sure did some crying.

The dog is now honored by a statue at the train station. After years of abuse as a stray, his story was eventually run in a Tokyo paper and the dog was revered in his final years...although he never had another proper home. His faithfulness as a friend was an inspiration to all who heard his story, and is to this day.

Ten years he waited. Without a home. Can you imagine?

The imagery took me over. I have a Master. His name is Jesus. And I was convicted by a dog that died over 70 years ago in the streets of Tokyo that never, ever, stopped looking for his beloved master. A dog. I wept to think of the loneliness and disappointment he must have felt day after day, when he never appeared.

Do I look for my Master with that sort of faithfulness and anticipation? I don't know. I long for Him to come, but mainly because I am so heartbroken and the state of our world and those who live in it. I want relief from this curse of sin...and I want to see my big brother...

I have this dream...don't laugh...but I have a dream of what will happen when I do see my Master, one day. I dream that I'll be wearing the most beautiful dress I've ever seen, and we'll be somewhere outside and breathtaking, and I'll see Him in the distance...walking closer and closer with long and determined strides towards me. When He reaches me, He picks me and holds me tight while I bury my face in His neck and I just weep. You know, the sort of crying that comes upon you by suprise and is filled with relief. Weep for all the heartbreak I had to endure on my journey to Him, weep for all the pain and suffering this world dealt out to all of us, weep because I am being free of it, weep from exhaustion after a hard journey is complete, weep because I'll finally...finally...be home...Ephraim. My eyes will finally behold all of the beauty, born out of all of the suffering...

He will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;

He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

The LORD has spoken.
In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.

This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

-Is. 25:8-9

The name LORD, in all caps as seen here, is indicative of the Hebrew name Yahweh, or Jehovah. These names are the "Covenant" names of Jesus. The different names of God are used in Scripture to indicate the nature of God in particular passages. There are many, and I encourage your study of them. They are not only fascinating, but incredibly comforting and inspiring. I love that in this passage that by the name used we are pointed to the Covenant that He made with us as believers...He will return for us. My Master will come back for me, and take me home. He promised.

Poor Hachi. He had no such promise from His Master, yet his faithfulness went far beyond my own.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come. Come and take this stray girl home...