Good morning…
I pre-programmed my past two posts before I went on our weekend Writers’ Retreat at a friend’s mountain home near Lake Rabun. As I crafted the words about trees on my street changing at different rates and the painful-looking experience of naked, barren limbs, I had no idea how real these words would become over the next few hours. Vulnerable. Unprotected. Emptied to the core. “Life has stripped me naked.” Vulnerable. Unprotected. Emptied to the core. “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 (NIV). On Friday afternoon, when we climbed in the car for our two hour drive, the violence in Paris had not yet erupted. By the time we arrived, unpacked our belongings, and cozied-up on the couches to enjoy our evening, someone got a text from her husband outlining the early details of the shocking massacres.
We prayed instantly, collectively for all the lives being altered on one horrific night. We bonded boldly as we knew life “before” and life “after” would be devastating different for many innocent victims, their families and their friends. We shared our own stories of pain and resilience, stories of surviving immense darkness by the candlelight of our LORD. Now is the time for all of us to trust the undeniable promise of God: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it, John 1:5 (NLT).
Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law, Galatians 6:2 (MSG),
Sue
