JEAN: 

My friend Traci Burns and I realized we’re just not that good while standing in her front hallway covered in paint. Bless our hearts.

I’m not talking about whether we’re “good” people. Jesus settled that for us:

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Luke 18:19).

No, Traci and I already knew we’re not good in that way. Since we’ve trusted in Christ as our Savior, we don’t have to worry about that.

We’re still not good — our sin nature hasn’t gone away — but Christ now covers us with His grace and righteousness.

When we say we’re “just not that good,” we’re talking about our skills at working everything out perfectly.

We realized it while sponge-painting her front hallway in 1995.

We felt like artists, dabbing the perfect combination of tan paint onto her walls with paint-soaked sponges and our bare hands.

We stood back and admired our work. We were good. 

But then it was time for Traci to run carpool.

Apparently we needed mineral spirits to get the oil-based paint off our hands. We didn’t have any.

We slapped grocery bags over Traci’s hands and rushed her off. I’m sure she made her kids proud that day.

I stayed at her house trying to get my young toddler to stay in her playpen for her nap. She managed to escape more times than my oil-based, paint-coated hands could handle.

If we were that good, Traci wouldn’t have been pulling up in front of the school with grocery bags wrapped around her hands, and I wouldn’t have been trying to put my toddler back in her playpen with my elbows. 

Since that day, we’ve joked we’re the modern version of Lucy and Ethel.

In case you, tragically, have no idea who Lucy and Ethel are, enjoy this classic clip of the famous chocolate factory line:

I think I may have gotten off track.

I’m supposed to be talking about how God is good, and now I’m showing Lucy and Ethel video clips. 

Maybe Traci should take it from here. 

TRACI: 

Thanks, Jean. Try to stay on track now.

God is good.

All the time. In every way.

Recently, Jean and I were talking about when I first posted on her blog.  It happened to be on my daughter Anna’s birthday. Friday, March 11, 2016.  Anna would have been 27.  

Jean and I marveled at God’s timing. You see, Jean and I hadn’t planned that. We’re just not that good. 

JEAN:

We began talking awhile ago about Traci writing a series of posts for my blog, but we never set a date.

I intended to feature her Mom’s Thought for the Week texts she sends her boys each Monday. I later told her I wanted her first several post to be about Anna. 

The timing finally worked out one week, so I called Traci and told her I’d like to schedule her first post for that coming Friday. I had no idea what the date was. I barely knew what month we were in. 

After Traci agreed, she told me it would be Anna’s birthday. 

God is good. 

Traci and me? Nope. We’re just not that good.  

TRACI:

When I say God is good, I say it with great confidence.  

My life changed forever the day I got the news Anna died instantly in a car accident.

I had faith in Jesus before Anna’s accident, but it came to “life,” so to speak, when I heard the news of her accident.  

I cried everyday for nine months. 

My heart ached, and I grieved like I’d never grieved before. But God was good to me. He’s always been good to me.

In a past post, I shared that on the day we found out Anna had died, Weyland and I had gone to lunch at a restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Located 73 stories above the street, we ate in a glass-walled dining room that slowly revolved a full 360 degrees.  

I believe Jesus led us to that restaurant so we could experience just a hint of the view our precious Anna was already experiencing with Him in Heaven. 

God is good.

On that same day, when Weyland and I got back to our friends Mike and Janice Ripley’s home in Atlanta, their daughter, Michele, was there.

Michele is one of Anna’s dear friends. She lives in South Carolina, so we weren’t expecting to see her. She wasn’t at her parents’ home when we left for downtown Atlanta. 

In fact, she wasn’t even planning on traveling to their house that day. A friend of hers had to be in Atlanta so she caught a ride at the last minute.

Looking back, I know it was Jesus who led Michele to her parents’ that day. He knew Michele would have been alone in SC when she got the news about Anna. I don’t believe He wanted that for her. 

He also knew having Michele at her parent’s house would be a comfort for me.  

God is good!

That night, Weyland and I arrived back at our house in Lexington, SC, to find our street lined with cars.  

Family members and friends filled our home, waiting to comfort us.  

Our sons, Trey and David, had already arrived. Trey had to travel from Greenville, SC. David came from Charleston. 

I know Jesus led each of those wonderful people to our home because He knew we needed their love and support. 

God is good.

JEAN:

I stood on the porch of Weyland and Traci’s house the night they returned from Atlanta with their shattered hearts. 

We embraced and she looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m going to be ok, right?” 

I said, “Yes, you will,” and smiled, even as I cried, because I saw faith in her eyes. 

All night long, Traci grieved and worshipped in a stunning display of what true faith looks like. 

As amazing as I know my friend Traci is, it was the Spirit of God active in her that enabled her to walk with such faith and courage. 

God is good.

TRACI:

I’m learning that when we take the time to look, we can see God at work. 

God loves us, and He wants us to see His hand. 

I believe all of us can see Him at work in our lives if we’ll only take the time to look. 

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
~ Psalm 46:10

God is good.

All the time, God is good.

Thanks for joining us today,

Traci & Jean
Bless Our Hearts

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[bctt tweet=”God is good. Us? Nope. We’re just not that good, and I can prove it.” username=”jeanwilund”]