Truth is...

This past month has been a stinker. I am not going to lie to you. Sometimes the truth isn't pleasant; sometimes it even stings. This past few weeks have had some challenges that have sent me flying, and not in a good way. More like the way you were sent flying when you'd be riding your bike as a kid so fast and you didn't see it, but your front tire hit a rock so hard that you were sent butt over handle bars and nothing you could do about it. You weren't sure if you cried more from the physical hurt of it or from the sheer shock of the unexpected.

Either way, that's how it's been lately. Privacy of family members prevents me from giving all the gory details, but we've been dealing with some rather heavy stuff in our family for a long time now, and it's really kicking up a notch. Very hard, very real life stuff. Stuff that makes you ask yourself if you are even strong enough to take it anymore. Stuff that makes you question what you're made of. On top of that all, there have been some physical ailments to slow us down too.

So we have had that, and then other stuff from another couple family members trying to work out their serious, heavy, life stuff and that has spilled over onto our place mats and now it's just a big, messy table. These are all problems that you can only ignore for so long, until they decide they will be ignored no longer, like Glen Close's character in Fatal Attraction.  Then they rear their ugly heads and show up in your bathroom with a knife demanding your attention....well, you get the point.

But, in all the mess, and in all the pain and all the drama, God is still working. He is working His perfect plan with His imperfect people and it's amazing what can happen when enough God-followers say to the Lord, "Just use me."  He will. He does. He did.

He used two to call and offer a night off from the kids, if we need it.  Then another one was there to listen to me rant and whimper for an hour on a walk in her neighborhood. A Pastor offered prayer. Then another friend said something like, "just tell me what you need and I will do it," really meaning it. Still another one came over and worked out with our son, and just listened to him talk. Another couple came just to visit, expecting no food or entertainment, but just to be a comfort and listening ear. Others offered food, time, shopping trips. God is working every day in our lives and the lives of others to provide that lift up that we need when we've just crashed our bikes in the mud and don't know how to move forward.

He works through His workers. He loves through His children. He provides blessings through those He's blessed. And all the while, our mouths are open in surprise as if this has never happened before. To be honest, this happens all the time. This is His modus operandi. We just don't record it. We don't journal it. We don't remember. When we say we want to be His hands and feet to someone, He provides the opportunity. Do we take it? Do we jump to help or assume someone else will and back down? I too often do the latter. And then there is the conviction of the Holy Spirit that "what if every member of the body of Christ responded this way?" Whoaaah. Time for an attitude adjustment. I just hate those, don't you? But I need them. Often.

So this day, after I was sitting here in the mud puddle looking up at about 14 people reaching down a hand to me, I realized I need to thank them, and God. Thank you for being there. Thank you for caring. Thank you for making the phone call, the visit, and praying the prayers. Thanks for the offers and the kindness and the compassion. Thanks for the understanding and the love. Just thanks.