Lord,
This has been a hard year.
My brother's brain tumor, but he's still alive and remarkably strong.
Caring for both of my parents.
We are learning the dance of adult-child & parents.
Even as I write my father is in the hospital. While his death is not immanent, I sense that we are closer than ever before.
This has been a hard year.
My brother's brain tumor, but he's still alive and remarkably strong.
Caring for both of my parents.
We are learning the dance of adult-child & parents.
Even as I write my father is in the hospital. While his death is not immanent, I sense that we are closer than ever before.
Life is changing.
My mother noted recently:
"Just when things seem to settle,
something tips the balance."
A farmer businessman in my first church rightly observed,
"The sole constant in life is change."
Living in a place prone to hurricanes, I've learned from the trees:
In a storm, better to be flexible, bending with the winds all the while deeply rooted, instead of being tense and fixed for that's when things break and come crashing down.
Hurricane Hugo from my preteen years taught me that truth.
Today is still hard.
And yet I am seeking two things:
1. Rooting myself deeper
in my faith in God,
in my love for my family,
in my care for myself,
in learning to set healthy boundaries,
in asking for and accepting help.
2. Learning to be flexible by
appreciating the moment,
practicing curiosity,
accepting differences,
choosing to respond instead of react,
learning to do ministry with instead of to others,
listening for/seeking the image of God in others and myself.
And yet I am seeking two things:
1. Rooting myself deeper
in my faith in God,
in my love for my family,
in my care for myself,
in learning to set healthy boundaries,
in asking for and accepting help.
2. Learning to be flexible by
appreciating the moment,
practicing curiosity,
accepting differences,
choosing to respond instead of react,
learning to do ministry with instead of to others,
listening for/seeking the image of God in others and myself.
Lord,
help me be as a tree
deeply rooted and flexible
planted by streams of your living water.
May I be resilient in every season
and fruitful in the proper season,
just as you made me to be.
Amen
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