Saturday, February 26, 2011

Dear God,

Tonight in our living room sat survivors, two from a fire that destroyed their home, another who battled ovarian cancer, a recovering addict, one who fought physical and emotional abuse, a second one from emotional abuse, one who nearly died with a rampant blood infection and 25 necessary surgeries on various body parts, a woman who faced two kinds of breast cancer, another whose own heart only functions at 10%, another with heart problems, one who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and dementia, a man who was hit by a drunk driver when he was 16 and left bleeding and dying on the road, one other who has battled dark depression for years, another whose arteries are so clogged that the doctors said they could never operate again and one who has spots on her brain due to years of excess smoking. They are my family.

For years we were at odds with one another. And then a good healthy dose of your spirit swept through for whatever reason changing everything, transforming us into a family who suddenly cared very deeply.

Now we get together every month or two for a meal, games, hilarity, hugs and hope. We love being together for we know that we are growing older and we want our children and grandchildren to see a family at peace having fun, praying together, sharing with one another and reaching out.

We've been transformed not because we were skilled negotiators or for that matter even that we were sacrificial with one another. We have been altered because your agape love penetrated our hearts, minds and souls giving us better options for human life together.

So much grace
in one room,
what can
I say?
Your spirit
has given us
so many
second chances
and we
are grateful.
We see
the light shining
and we know
its radical source.
We lean
toward it now
because we realize
any other option
is just
plain stupid.

Love, Andrea