Catholic Church St. Branch. Cross (dread Chapel) by Florian Fuchs

Greetings, beloved,

The Lord be with you! I remember my early years in the episcopal church when the Priest would welcome us with:

• Priest: The Lord be with you.
• People: And with thy spirit.
• Priest: Lift up your hearts.
• People: We lift them up unto the Lord.
• Priest: Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God. (or Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.)
• People: It is meet and right so to do. (or It is meet and just.)

I love the blessing. I love the encouragement to praise and give thanks and do it corporately.

Well, the otolaryngologist probably had never seen the likes of me yesterday. We sat there dumbfounded as he explained I did not have Superior Canal Dehiscence as he supposed in our previous conversation. I dissolved like an Alka Seltzer tablet. In no way did I want to have a craniotomy, but the prospect of knowing! I left depressed and threw a major hissy fit. Ahem. This season has challenged but I knew there was a light, there was relief coming. By the end of the meeting, I was left with nothing. Or so I thought in the midst of my meltdown.

I thank God for my husband who just let me burn off my frustration. He just held my hand, nodded and squeezed my leg. Yet, after a fortifying Caramel and Cheese Popcorn and working through all my emotions, I knew the Lord had a plan. I needed to trust His plan. The rest of the day I could have hidden, yet the Spirit of the Most High was working, loving me back into His arms. Even when I was kicking and pounding and screaming..ahem.

It was an eye opener for my little guy who struggles with temper tantrums. We took our boy for a long walk and talked it through with him. I mentioned to him that one of us threw a fit and it wasn’t Daddy. He looked at me wide-eyed. I asked him if he thought Jesus would love me through and forgive me for heedless words. He looked at me and said, of course, Mommy. And Joshua turned the tables and said, so if your Mom can be forgiven and loved even before she committed any sin, why could God not love and forgive you continually?

He had a light come into His eyes. He finally understood a concept that we had tried to teach for such a long time. Forgiveness is not based on anything you can do in your strength. It is based on Jesus and His blood.

If nothing else was gained from yesterday, other than my boy understanding God’s love is lavished upon him, that he is forgiven and he is cleansed…it was a good day.

Today, I have understanding as well about the possibilities of my condition and what ails me. That is a relief. The doctor was guiding us to this and as I read up on this condition today, it just helps to know there will be an answer.

Pray on. Pray on.