While reflecting on the last few months, I'm struck with the body's response to stress and grief and the contrast of reaction when finding relief. It's as if you could walk on water when the weight is removed. For the first time in decades, I've physically felt anxiety in new ways. Images of "The Little Engine That Could" come to mind. I'm not implying an extraordinary ability, just communicating the weight of a heavy load that was unfamiliar to me. (Come to find out teenagers don't have a pause button as you come to the end of yourself.) Honestly, there is no pause button for any of life. Fast food servers still bark at you. Families are still disfunctional, even in the saddest of times. Still, another thought about the Little Engine comes to mind. While the book leads us to believe in our ability to overcome and challenge ourselves, I can only relate with the part of a burden weighing me down heavily while continuing on the path ahead. I'm thankful for the overwhelming support, most especially the Lord Jesus, pushing me each day and even carrying the burden for me as I kept going. Friends and family have cheered my weary spirits and run along with me while my gaze has often been downcast and defeated. I've felt the weakness of my flesh like never before and have relied on the loving kindness of others in countless ways. Now we're on the downhill side of things and thankful for the lighter, easier load as we travel around an always uncertain, eventful, yet hopeful, bend. Thank you, dear friends, for carrying my burden for me. Here's to another Friday and cooler weather in the forecast.
"If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, "My foot slips," your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. " Psalm 94: 17-18
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