Being the Light – Yet Another Devotional – Coming Through the Storm
I really love how the wind feels in my face! It’s like being brought back to being young- riding bikes down the street carefree, or gardening outside, or playing on the beach, or playing softball- albeit badly. It’s a feeling of being free and one with nature. Like being lifted up and away from it all- lifts up my soul and makes me turn my face towards the sky.
And I was feeling this the other day, I was thinking about how it would make for a nice blog/chapter opening- and then it occured to me: the whole reason I was feeling this mighty breeze was because of an incoming storm. And the reason I was outside was because I was preparing for this massive storm, by putting up my kids toys and anything else that might get blown away.
Later, our guest presider at church preached on Genesis:
Rev. John McCard, Executive Director for Macon Volunteer Clinic, was filling in. He spoke about the reading from Genesis, how Abram was met with a difficult journey- that he didn’t see the path forward. And that Jesus faced the same. “Our Lenten Journey, my friends, is no journey if we don’t experience the Cross,” he would say. “The symbol of what stands between the Lord and each one of Us.”
I thought about that, reflecting on my own enjoyment of the wind on my face- the sign that bad weather was to come. The storm is part of the journey, I think many of us know this- but it doesn’t make things any easier. It’s only once we are through it, and maybe not even then, that we can see clear eyed.
I can tell you that it took me many years of weathering storms, of being mad at God, of always trying to look forward and beyond the storms… before I could settle in.
Even now it’s so tempting to say to myself that things will be easier once I make more money, once I reach this goal, once my kids are this age, or even once I can find a true love and partner in life.
But I have to remind myself: what I have now, I once prayed for, was once the place where I said things would be better “if”.
Here’s to wishing for clear eyes for you, and for me, and happiness in it all.
Actionable Items for this week:
Trying to not excessively spend. So many times when we are in a storm I find myself wanting to give myself a treat of some kind. And later I wonder why did I do that? If I don’t spend unnecessarily, I find I can be better prepared later down the road. I am giving myself kindness this week by exerting discipline.
An Account I Like to Follow: The Faith Filled Therapist
I think a lot of times people think that Faith and Science are apart from one another, but this Instagram account shows ways that they aren’t- and I find it helpful! Going to therapy is not a lack of faith. It is actionable love for yourself.
