One More Step

It seems there are times when everything goes right. The parking places are close to the door and don't carry the handicap icon, the customer is complimentary and loves doing business with you, the spouse is loving, the kids are all in a good spot. The stars are simply aligned and life is good.

Then there are times visited on your family where it is not the stars aligned, but all the crap the world can throw at you and yours is coming in faster and faster. My little corner of the world is going through this now. Each of my offspring is handling some really big, life changing, life altering stuff and each one seems to have these continuing little setbacks that are disheartening and frustrating.

There is a tendency to be a little philosophical, "God is testing me, teaching me." Or the other side of the coin, "Satan is testing me, teaching me." I think sometimes the crap just all hits at the same time. We can find hope or the strength to fight depending on where you think the crap is coming from, but in reality, these things just happen. I'm not saying I don't think God or Satan don't interact with creation, it just means that the world we find ourselves in dumps a lot of trauma on it, and surrounds us with people who bring us joy to deal with it all. If pushed, I would say that God is incredibly active in his creation, I'm just not sure he spends a great deal of time manipulating events so we won't have crap land on us. Scripture is full of quotes and stories that illustrate that we just have to understand the nature of this world and that we have to find a way to cope.

So here is what you do when overwhelmed with kids being sick, kids disappointed, kids frustrated and sad, grand kids having to learn life lessons when very young, spouses who are living "plan B"
You put your head down and take the next step. Let the blizzard blow, the sleet stings, the hands and feet are numb, you want to quit, you want to cry, you want to shake your fist at...what? The wind? The movement of the earth that causes blizzards?
You take the next breath, cling to the hands that you brought into the world, cling to your faith in these storms of life, and take one more step.

Remember that joy and family times and good food and laughter are going to come.

My bride and I raised fighters. You can knock them down, but you will not knock them out. They are made of much better stuff than that. And when it is all over they will still love people and each other, they will still make significant contributions, in the end they will outlast the storm, faithful, strong, and sure.

Godspeed to my kids and kids-in-law and my grandkids, the hill is a little steep right now, but we will overcome.
Don