Friday, May 6, 2011

Dear God,

My, oh my, how the weight shifts when we choose to follow the new plan, your plan for our lives. We learned a long time ago how to put pressure on ourselves, our marriage, and others. Seemingly, it was good to live with pressure pushing us to do more, work harder, take on extra responsibilities, and do it all with a sense of arrogant humility if that makes any sense at all.

But today working under pressure, pushing each other for decisions, we opted for that new old plan that you set before us. Within seconds the decision was made, the pressure was off, we wrapped our arms around each other, and then we sat down for a cup of specialty coffee. In the next hours driving up to northern Indiana we simply enjoyed the lush green landscape, the freshly plowed fields, the budding trees, and colorful spring flowers. What a difference a simple yes to you makes.

Loving God,
your grace
follows us
wherever we go.
We cannot escape
from love
that seeks
us out,
whispering to us
the secrets
of eternal joy.
As we
turn to you,
opting to
follow you,
we surrender
the hold
of false pride,
unrealistic expectations,
and the need
to control
our situation.
We give you
our thanks.

Love, Andrea and Harold