ANOTHER rainy day. 2017 has delivered a steady dose of cold and gloom. I've employed the usual tricks: a good sweat at the gym, 80s tunes in the studio, and a hot mug of Earl Grey to top it off. Nothing. Even God has gone quiet. I can't seem to shake the wet blanket that has come to rest on my shoulders.
I retreat to my couch, wrap myself in the closest throw and begin thumbing through relationships for sour hints… my oldest, preparing to embark on a 2-year Costa Rica assignment with the Peace Corps; a second son, making his way through undergraduate school 150 miles from home; an over-committed high school junior who is seldom around; a husband of a quarter-century facing his own demons; and a daughter about to become a mother. Here I sit, chewing this slice of reality, detecting the bitter-sweet taste of change, trying to swallow.
Enter Robin. Friend of a dozen+ years & a couple shakes more seasoned in the game of life: a big sister without the baggage. Be it a text, phone call or visit, she faithfully arrives in God's perfect timing; a messenger of hope, patience, courage. "Sometimes you just need to pull in," she'll say, "Look back at all the challenges God has brought you through!"
Her words find a corner to settle in my soul, "Let go and Let God, Dain- We do our best and the Holy Spirit fills in the gaps." With a humor that only two Catholic girls from nutty midwest families could share, her laughter grabs hold of my boot straps, yanking me out of my concocted pit. And once again, this angel who has seen her share of cloudy days, has lead me out of the fog.
And as if on cue, the weather suddenly breaks...
"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." -Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
