Highs and Lows

            When I was in college my father started to write to me every week. This was in the days of corded phones and everything outside of West Point, Nebraska, was a long-distance call. He would let me know what he and mom had been doing and how things were going in my hometown.

After a while, (perhaps, to my shame, my sophomore year?) I decided that I should write my parents back each week, letting them know what was going on at school. After a few weeks I was struck by the vicissitudes of life. There would be wonderful things I’d enjoyed right alongside what to my 20-year-old self were great struggles and set-backs. That was my first encounter with what many refer to these days as “highs and lows.”

We use some time in our weekly staff meetings to share the highs and lows of our lives. This is a way of investing in one another, building upon the trust we have as brothers and sisters in Christ, and bearing one another’s burdens as St. Paul has encouraged (Galatian 6).

Well, this week, I’ll be sharing how much Jami and I enjoyed seeing our children, their spouses, and our grandson last week. We had a safe trip to and from Omaha and a wonderful time reunited. This time was a wonderful gift from our Father in heaven.

I’ll also be sharing about my mother, Carla’s, fall. She broke the humerus in her right arm just below the joint with her scapula. This required a surgery to reverse her shoulder (now the ball is on the scapula and the receptor on the humerus). As of this writing she will be entering an inpatient rehabilitation facility for what appears to be a two week stay. And I will want to share with my friends here at Redeemer what I want to share with you – that again we are thankful for the wonderful gifts of our Father in heaven: surgeons, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, therapists, and administrators who have been plying their trade for the benefit of my mother and father. 

We are able to give thanks to God in all things, for He is at work in them for our well-being (Romans 8). At the moment it may be terribly difficult to see, but both in hindsight and in the long view we know that the grace of God in Christ Jesus is sufficient for us. 

God bless you through the highs and lows that lie ahead!