Walking Together

"It seems that it is by the means of seemingly perfunctory daily rituals and routines that we enhance the personal relationships that nourish and sustain us." ~ Kathleen Norris

I believe the statement above to be true. So I am sharing some of our "daily living" with you all and inviting you to walk along side us.

My calendar for the past month looks like a crazy mess. Pencil scrawling in every square allotted to the specific dates. Bar-b-ques. Birthday parties. Doctor appointments. Car repair appointments. Tea and coffee with friends. Support group meetings. Emergencies. Babies. Family. Friends. Life.

As I turn the page to the glorious fall month that is quickly approaching us I see the pencil lead has already found it's way over there. Filling up white space. Leaving plans of family, friends, and life in it's wake.

My heart. It feels weak. My body too. I feel unqualified. To inexperienced to manage this family of six. School started two weeks ago. We've successfully accomplished maybe a weeks worth. The laundry is piling up. I don't have time for the meals I planned and shopped for. With a calendar filling up with life's necessities how do I make it all work?

"Trust Me and refuse to worry, for I am your Strength and Song." I read from Jesus Calling this morning. "You are feeling wobbly this morning, looking at difficult times looming ahead, measuring them against your own strength. However, they are not today's tasks-or even tomorrow's. So leave them in the future and come home to the present, where you will find Me waiting for you. Since I am your Strength, I can empower you to handle each task as it comes. Because I am your Song, I can give you joy as you work alongside Me."

I take those words tucking them into the deep pockets of my heart. Within a few hours my hands are reaching down deep pulling them back out. My eyes are reading. My heart is eating. My whole body is relaxing. Just today. That's what I need to do.

Amelia goes in to the eye doctor next Friday. Her right eye has started to pull to the left. I'm grateful we are catching it early. My mind imagines doctor appointment after doctor appointment. Not today's task. Leave it to the future.

The day before her appointment our car goes back to the mechanic for more work. It's the brakes this time. Last week it was the water pump. Not today's task. Leave it to the future.

Friday morning before Amelia's appointment i go in for an ultra sound. They found a cyst on my right ovary when I went to the ER last week with pain in my lower right abdomen. There are plans for surgery to remove the cyst. Possibly the ovary too. Not today's task. Leave it to the future.

The devotion continues, "Keep bringing your mind back to the present moment. Among all My creatures, only humans can anticipate future events. This ability is a blessing, but it becomes a curse whenever it is misused. If you use your magnificent mind to worry about tomorrow, you cloak yourself in dark unbelief. However, when the hope of heaven fills your thoughts, the Light of My Presence envelopes you. Though heaven is future, it is also present tense. As you walk in the Light with Me, you have one foot on earth and one foot in heaven."

Jesus, thank you for the gift of anticipation. May I reciprocate grace for grace and use that blessing in the way it was intended. Being here. Today.