What do you pray when there is so much trouble around you and nothing you can do? For my pregnant due-any-moment friend with no power and roads covered in ice between her and the hospital? For my former neighbor who cares for her husband with dementia—as if that weren’t enough, she hurt her back right before all this happened. Who is taking care of them? I wondered. How do I pray in this situation?
I’d heard the rumblings of trouble in this area for the last few years; I knew there was tension between the Han Chinese and Uyghur Muslims. But it was only recently that a friend on social media informed me about the most recent reports. When I saw them, my heart broke.
Last November on my husband’s birthday, I half-jokingly declared the coming year would be “the best year of his life.” Clearly, I had no clue what 2020 would become.
Do you ever wonder who Jesus would be hanging out with if He were with us in the flesh today? Who are the “outsiders” that we’d be astonished to see Him with? The down-on-their-luck, left-behind and forgotten, sick and outcast whom He’d notice with compassion?
Whereas I used to begin my day reading the Bible, or at least have a time set aside for it, my daily agenda has been turned upside down, and with it, my Scripture reading. I’ve been brainstorming ways we can help each other stay accountable in reading the Bible—partaking of our Lifeline and breathing deeply of this Sustenance.
“Will you Easter with me?”
At first, my kiddo’s syntactical error made me giggle. But after a moment, I realized that she’d said something very profound.
We watched the waters rise around our home. After days of rain, with only more days of rain in the coming forecast, we decided to pack up what we could, and go spend the night at our neighbors’ in their upstairs guest bedroom.
We’ve heard it a million times. We’ve read it on our Instagram feed, our coffee mugs, t-shirts, artwork, even in Christian bookstores: Follow your heart. But is it right to follow my heart? Will following my heart even make me happy?
While remembering Christ’s first coming during Advent and Christmas, we also anticipate and prepare for His second coming. Many people feel fearful when they think of Jesus’ return, perhaps because there is so much unknown about it. But I would like to suggest that His return should be something that brings encouragement to our hearts and minds.