Skip to main content

The Parking Places for the Heart



It has been a restless kind of day.
It actually started the night before.
A decision to watch the Daily Wire before bed
Numbers, reports, job losses, deaths, projections...
Anti-isolation protests rising.
My mind filled with questions...
Is the collapse of the economy worse than the pandemic?
Do governments have too much power?
How did we get here? Just because someone ate a bat?
Will my dental surgeon ever open again?
I turned the lights out,
My body fell asleep but my mind was in park mode.
Parked in anxiety, fear, doubt.

I did not need the alarm to wake me up.
My mind was up and ready to go.
From park to high gear.
Checking my phone,
Answering emails, making phone calls,
Planning more zoom calls,
And sending even more text messages.

Towards the end of the day, came a text from a dear friend.
Reminding me to go for a walk.
"Walk very far" was her quote.

And so I did.
My mind unravelled and undone.
My restless heart slowed down,
And turned to the only One who can give me rest.
Who promises that He will keep me in perfect peace,
If my mind is stayed on Him.

The reality is harsh
The future unknown to us
But I must make a choice
I must park my heart in His promises.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life:
of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps. 27:1).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Letter to My Grandson on His First Birthday

  My darling Baby D, Today is the twentieth anniversary of an event that changed the world forever.  This event that we call 9/11 is in your history books but it is a reality that I share with you. So much more has happened to this world since then. 2020 was the year of the pandemic - this time your reality more than mine. You actually got the dreaded covid bug. It has been a year and some of isolation, masks, vaccines and fear all around us.  Each new day makes our reality uncertain and changing all the time. And yet for me this is a day of hope. 9/11 of 2020 is what I will call it. I had prayed for over five years - sometimes fervently, sometimes desperately, sometimes, honestly not at all. I often got tired of waiting but my weak faith was not going to stop God’s plan.  A year has gone by and I have watched you grow from the tiny fragile little baby, to a  boy who cannot sit still. Oh what joy you bring to my heart. I love your welcome at the condo and yo...

"Joy comes with the morning." Psalm 30

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" Three days after Julius went home to the Lord, God had given me a promise. He had spoken to me from Psalm 77. Just like He had moved the nation of Israel, He was going to make a way through the deep waters of suffering that I was in. A way that I could not see, a way that I had to trust. I had to make a choice to move forward and believe that the waters would not drown me. (Is 43:2).  I had to believe Him. It is one year and 9 months and there are days even now when the waters seem to overwhelm and there are days when I see a glimpse of the path ahead. Through the prophet Isaiah He says: 'Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness...

Oh, The Places We Went

There comes a time when you know it is time... A time to de-clutter. 18 years of stuff and 7 years since Julius has gone. Where does one start with an endeavor of this kind? I don’t think my heart and emotions are ready But there comes a time when you must do what you need to do. So I decided I will work my way up! Starting at the lowest shelf of the bookcase in the lowest part of the house seemed like a good idea. Armed with a few boxes, I descended to a place I don’t visit much these days. The basement - a place that once was a hub of activity. Crafts, games, friends, cable TV - all happened in this cheerful and brightly painted room. I looked around forlornly and before I could change my mind and run back up, I dug out the bottom of the bottom shelf. Memories came flooding back. Oh, the places we went! Maps, Brochures, CAA Travel Trip Tiks! Road trips, flights - all carefully planned. Oh the places we went The sights we saw The memories we made To remember so many years later today....