Sunday, January 3, 2010

Update 1/3/10 8 weeks since crash

Dear friends,

I love Sundays. All the darkness of Sunday, November 8 can't steal my love of the first day of the week, the day the ancient Christians celebrated the resurrection in the excellent company of one another. For all the ways we've changed, we still gain the mysterious power that comes from worshipping God all together on Sundays. Where one has weak faith, he is built up by the other. Raising our voices to the Great One in song, (whether we can sing or not!), under one roof, creates a fellowship we share with those on the other side of the world doing the same thing in grass huts and open air fields and even underground hide outs. Real life is about living with our Father every day of the week. But Sundays are special. Like a mini holiday.

Today Psalm 139 landed in my lap to remind me there is no where I can go where God isn't. "If I go up to the the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast..." In 8 weeks, 8 years or 8 hundred years, there is nowhere any of us can go where the love of God can't find us. No depression, no health crisis, no financial ruin, no relationship nightmare where He is absent. In all my emotional ups and downs since my dear ones were hit head on (and, I'm beginning to see, so was I), I can tell you with certainty that calamity and destruction are no match for the faithfulness of God. I have not walked this stretch of the road perfectly. But He has. And I can trust Him to take us all the way.

The house smelled so good this afternoon while I boiled the bones from yesterday's chicken dinner for a lovely soup! I put the broth on the back porch, and tomorrow that cold weather will have sucked up all the fat to the top of the pot for skimming. Then I'll add carrots, potatoes, rice, onions and whatever other stuff I have leftover in the fridge. Homemade soup is right up there with long walks on the beach and an afternoon with a pile of Jeeves and Wooster stories. I find the simple things in life to be the sweetest, don't you? Seeing my dear husband enjoy some football this afternoon, watching David and Robbie laugh when they didn't know I was looking, admiring the cat stretched out over the radiator - these are the meat and potatoes of everyday life. God is good to give us these pleasures along the way. I'm sure He enjoyed them too when He put His own fully human feet on the ground in Zion. Kinda blows the mind.

Time for us to watch our latest Netflix selection (thank you Tracy!), "Drums Along the Mohawk. We got through half of it last night. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert star as a young married couple settling in the Upstate New York "frontier" during the Revolutionary War. So far it's a pretty sad story. It was made in 1939, the greatest year in movie history according to my husband. John Ford directed this one, and he's no slouch.

Tomorrow school starts. As you know, this is a big day for Miss Rejoice, who hasn't been to Columbia in 2 months. Please pray for my baby girl. The Great One also walks the halls of Columbia High School, and there's nowhere she can be where He isn't. Momma is trying not to be anxious.

Bless your hearts for sticking with this blog. I'm surprised so many of you still want to walk the wire with me, but I'm so glad you do! Tonite I'm praying for a blessing to fall down on your heads in 2010. No doubt about it, there's nowhere you can be this year where He isn't.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're all here,on the sidelines and in the fray -waiting,listening,watching,cheering...Keep running.We all need you to keep us in the race.
Have a blessed Monday,wherever you may be.
In Him,
Joan

Anonymous said...

Dittos to what Joan said. Coming to your blog in the morning has become as normal as checking my email and brushing my teeth. Some mornings it prompts me to pray more for your family, and some mornings it calls me to repentance. Laughing, crying, whatever it brings, it has become a very important part of my day. It's our lifeline to you - to your inside and outside life, to know how to pray especially, but when I read it, I'm right in your livingroom or kitchen with you, and that brings you to me while we walk this road together but separately for this season.

Keeping Miss Hannah in prayer today as she gets back to Columbia. Praying that there are not a lot of adjustments needed to the adjustments already being made - that they got it right the first time, and that all she has to do is be there with the Lord leading and guiding her through her day. That she would be aware of her needs and not be too shy to make them known, and that she would have fun.

Have a blessed day, Loriann. Love you to pieces, my sweet friend.

Mary Ann

Anonymous said...

Ditto on Mary Anns comment. I always check the progress and wisdom of the day! I will be praying for Hannah this week.

Does Steve need any more pants or shorts ? I would be glad to make up a couple of pairs.

Denise P.

Anonymous said...

Hi Loriann,

I finally figured out how to send a comment! I so wish I was close enough to help in any way. I read your blogg everyday to try and keep up.

You are such an incredibly strong person, you are truely an inspiration. It is hard not to be bitter when your family has been hurt so badly, but you seem to always keep the sunny side up!

We miss you and love you guys. Give everyone our best.

Love,

Angela Wood

Unknown said...

Hi Loriann,

I'll be praying for Hannah especially today. Give me a call if anything comes up and you want to pray over the phone (that is, ON it, not For it! Ha). Also, I just want to check and be sure you saw my post on the Update 1/2/10 Day 55 blog.

God Bless!

Susan K.