I Thought Super Heroes Lived Forever
Joe Killian • November 8, 2014
I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of young Trey Mitlo. The youngest of Jay and Rachel Mitlo's three children, Trey's heroic, four-year battle with cancer has ended. Jay and Rachel made the decision several years ago to endure this journey in an incredibly courageous and in quite a public way, through social media.
Jay's website
contains the above picture of Trey, affectionately and appropriately known by countless supporters as the Young Warrior. I encourage you to visit Jay's website
to learn about this amazing family. In all honesty I do so with the hope that Jay's poignant and heart-wrenching descriptions of their journey might bring some needed perspective to you and your loved ones today.
For me, the first perspective is that life is more precious and fleeting than we ever want to admit. After reading Jay's posts please take the time to express your love to those that matter to you.
Secondly, and because it pertains to eternity, most importantly, Jay and Rachel are unabashed witnesses for their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As they mourn the loss of their beloved son, they do so with the hope of the resurrection that God's beloved Son attained for us all. Trey lived and died loving Jesus. Jay and Rachel are enduring this heartbreaking loss with the hope of being reunited with their little superhero. They have placed their trust in Jesus. Have you?
This is a reunion you won't want to miss!
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
