There’s just enough snow lightly falling to the earth to break up the dreariness of a gray winter day.
And as I glance through my hand written journal, I am reminded of our struggles as a family over the years and how time and time again, Lord, you have brought us through unharmed and standing.
It’s amazing how such love and beauty there is when I find myself desolate and empty, with nowhere to go but to keep plodding along the same barren path I’ve been traveling on for quite some time.
It’s amazing how easily I forget that the road is not always so rough. Sometimes i get so used to looking for something beautiful — for a ray of hope — but not seeing it, have turned my gaze downward. I forget to look up and instead find myself staring at my feet, stumbling over the roots and stones.
As a friend recently wrote in his blog:
“But, cast down upon our existence is a glimmer of hope. This Hope comes at the most bleak of all situations. In the best of times, it may not be at its greatest numbers, but It is there. It comes to glimmer in the corner of your eye. It glimmers because that is when it is at its most beautiful. Hope in abundance is not hope, it is egotism. It is rot. It is over-confidence. Hope in excess is no hope at all.”
And so, in this bleak time has come this glimmer: a few of our dear friends have just recently helped us during this financial desert we are in. One family has never even seen our faces or heard our voices, and I am so humbled and grateful for their act of love. And for those who have stood by us — as honest, real, and constant friends — caring for us through taking the time to talk with us, and lift up an utterance of prayer on our behalf, I say, thank you.
You all know who you are. You are God’s hands, heart, and words to us. You truly are His body. You make life worth living. I look forward to continuing this life journey with each of you by our sides. We love you with the love Christ miraculously fills us with despite ourselves. I hope we get the opportunity to bless you all with the same attitude of the heart and through giving of ourselves in your times of need.