Wow!! You know I wonder sometimes why I am so amazed by God’s goodness. I should know by this point in my life that God knows his child well....probably better than she knows herself. As my godmother likes to remind me...Pappa takes care of his children!!
So, today was just another blah kind of day and the crew seemed out of sorts most of the day. The only real plan for the day was school and my radiation. All went well in the morning and school was done by lunch time in spite of this negative mood that seemed to linger from the previous night.
I went to radiation and one of the techs from my previous group was there and I asked her to say hello to the other tech. The new tech asked if I needed a sedative to calm me during the treatment. She told me that I was obviously claustrophobic and medicine would help. I told her I would rather pray my way through the treatments. I truly believe that my way was better as I could use my suffering for others. It turned out that the treatment only lasted a short 20 minutes.
And then it was home and dinner and the rush of the evening tasks.
So, what was so amazing about this day?
I cannot help but wonder if God was waiting for me all day...waiting to give me this special gift. Think about a time when you had something special to surprise a loved one. You wonder if they will understand the significance of the gift. Will they like it? Will they ignore it? With that image in my mind, I can see God waiting for me to open his gift of grace.
The gift came during family prayers. We prayed from our evening devotional. And I was already thinking about how the night would end. Would we have another night struggling to get everyone to sleep?
If you read my post from yesterday, then you might recall that I used imagery of a storm at sea. Well, our family devotional is typically on a liturgical cycle. But tonight was different...I truly cannot see why the readings and prayers were chosen for this day. So that is why I see this as a gift for our family. It was as if God hand picked the following passage for us. Handpicked for us to remember that he is here to help us through our stormy waters.
First an opening prayer:
“When Peter saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” (cf. Mt 14:30)
Even today, human beings have no control over storms at sea, and sometimes very little control over storms in the heart. Only God has the power to still the tempest without and tempests within.”
Then Psalm 107: 23-32:
“He stilled the storm to a whisper:
all the waves of the sea were hushed.
They rejoiced because of the calm
and he led them to the haven they desired.”
Then a reading from the Gospel of Mark:
“...[The disciples] woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. ...“ Mark 4:37-41
And so ended our family prayer. And I was then able to feel at peace once again.
And the children are now in bed without fuss. And I could write this reflection. And even have time left over to work on that children’s story I have in my head.
But, most importantly... I am reminded that God loves me and gave me a gift of peace after another blah day dealing with cancer and family life.
Praise be to God!!!
COMMENTS
Darlene Belanger
Many people would not understand my saying to a family struggling with cancer, you are blessed. As are we who know and love you.
Susan Loffer
We love a good, good God....and He loves us and loves to remind us. I’m glad you had a peaceful evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment