Sunshine and shadow

With grateful hearts we embrace the new day. Kirsten made it through the surgery yesterday; the doc said they did less work than expected. She faces another repair in a few months because the surgeon said it was too risky to do all the procedures at the same time.

We are thankful for skilled medical teams and hospitals with dedicated caring staff. That's the sunny part.

Some of the shadow is the illness that continues to rob our daughter of joint after joint.

The biggest part of the shadow for me as a Christian is believing God put all the diseases and illnesses of humanity on Jesus at the cross... yet that seems to do little practical good. People continue to suffer in spite of prayers and pleas to God for help.

I keep throwing responsibility for our daughter on God, who is her heavenly father. He alone can arrest the progress of her arthritis. If he chooses to make her endure this, we are thankful for his presence and must trust him to do what is right.

This morning, under a cloudy sky, my prayers for help mingle with thanksgiving. A few "if only"s mingle with a hearty, "Thank you for helping yesterday."

• If only... God would touch Kirsten and heal her whole system
• if only... she would never have to have another operation
• if only... sickness would be gone from our friends, our families, and those we don't know
• if only... people would have access to good care when they need it, without being nickel-and-dime-d to death by insurance (IF they have insurance)
• if only...

and "Thank you."

• Thanks for another day
• thanks for scriptures promising God alongside in the valley of the shadows, whether illness, deprivation, or other traumas
• thanks for friends and family who pray and are faithful companions on the journey
• thanks for warm shelter and plentiful food
• thanks for death, when we go to be with Christ and all the garbage of this life will be a distant memory
• thanks...

 Read more:

*Psalm 140:1-5 Amos 6,7; Revelation 9:12-21

*The Lord rewards everyone for his righteousness and his faithfulness. 1 Samuel 26:23

*Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

The Moravian prayer for today: Heavenly Provider, thank you for the seeds of hope, faith, and love you have planted within us. Just as the gardener tends to tender plants, may this season of Advent nourish our souls so that we may share our bounty. Amen.