Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Dear God,

The serviceberry tree leaves are turning yellow.  They know their time has come to change.  Autumn means dramatic change when they turn color, drop, and fall to the ground.  The tree will be naked and seemingly vulnerable.  For months it will be bare until surprisingly tiny green buds will appear and the cycle of life will be visible once again.

This metaphor is most like the whole process my husband has been through since first learning about his serious health condition.  The challenge to change was put before him.  He too felt naked and vulnerable, at risk.  His medicine made him feel even more lethargic and unable to concentrate on reading, talking with friends and family, and being productive.  Although he didn't like it, he sensed there was little he could do but rest and wait for surgery.  Now that surgery is behind him, he is still very tired.  The idea of talking on the phone or having visitors seems overwhelming to him right now. 

What we know is he is changing every day. He is learning to adapt and be flexible.  His diet is changing.  No more fats, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar to his heart's content.  He is learning how to strengthen his body with exercise ordered by the doctor.  He is walking a few laps up and down the hallway.  He knows his heart has already changed, regularly pumping blood through his arteries reaching out to his extremities.  He's warmed up a bit after being so cold all summer.  He knows he's been given a gift and he wants to use it wisely.

Life lessons come in difficult times.  The ability to change makes us more able to see through the cracks of life.  We are enabled to see from a different angle, a new perspective.  We come to recognize what we could not see before.  We come to realize we can be transformed by the hand of the Almighty.  After all, who really wants to stay exactly as they are when your hand can reshape us giving us a new kind of life?

Unchanging God,
thank you
for truths
that wean us
from old,
stale ways
of being.
Forgive us
when we
are resistant,
reluctant to
allow you
to do
your magic
on us.
Lift our eyes
so we
may view eternity
and all
its promise.
You are
a loving god
and so,
you recreate us
again and again.
Thank you
for the blessing.

Love, Andrea