We decided to walk to school today because of the fog. Having a three year old in tow makes it an adventure. First thing the older boy discovered was his breath making little clouds that quickly disappeared. The little one then noticed our shadows appearing and disappearing with the sun starting to peek through the clouds and trees. Farther along he discovered his echo as he shouted into the skies. On the walk back home the little one suddenly got concerned and asked where is my brother's shadow as he pointed to ours walking hand in hand. I laughed. It stays with him. Your shadow stays with you wherever you go and mine stays with me. I then showed him how to walk inside my shadow so that his shadow was hiding inside mine.
I started to think about how answers to big questions can come to us from innocent children.
On Tuesday this week my youngest brother underwent a four hour operation to remove part of a tumor near his brain. I had asked all my praying friends to pray for him as well as his wife and young children. Tuesday morning I started to doubt the peace I had felt earlier. I was keeping a running dialogue in my head with God in between all the other everyday stuff I had to do. Driving along I always ask for travelling mercies and I felt the need for extra protection and help with concentration to keep my mind on the road and I was thinking about my brother and the surgeons and medical personnel and how could they hold their concentration for such a long time on such delicate work. I told God I'd really like Him to be with me to help me get through the day, but I really, really wanted Him to be with my brother, and I really, really, really wanted Him to be with the surgeon and medical personnel to help them concentrate and I knew my sister in law and my brother's children, my parents, my siblings also needed God to be with them at this very moment. Lord, I wondered, can you really be in all these places at once and can You be with all of us because if not here's my priorities, but if you can then we all need you today and I don't want to keep distracting You with my insecurities and fleeting moments of doubt.
Last night my women's bible study group watched the NOOMA video Rhythm which asked the question: What do you believe about God's involvement in our daily lives? and I realized that even though I have great faith in God, I wasn't the only one to have questions about How does God work?
This morning I think some of my questions were answered in the shadows. If we can have a shadow that is ours alone and that stays with us wherever we go whether we see it or not, then how far of a stretch is it to understand a God that is ours alone and stays with us wherever we go whether we see it or not.
I think of the little child shouting into the heavens and delighting in hearing an echo. I can relate that to calling out to God and delighting in hearing answered prayers.
Thank you Lord for all that you have provided and all that you have done for me. Thank you for being there and listening to my cries. Thank you for using me to be a mere shadow of You.
Linda
October 4, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sherri brought me a copy of this post when I was at the hospital, and I found it very touching. With Love Mark
I thought I was reading one of those inspirational stories that go around on the emails.
Post a Comment