Inside Out – Day 1

Never will I forget driving the country road that day. I had just left a church that had been completely flooded. The pastor had asked me to find lunch for 25 volunteers he had working. I was able to do that, deliver, then headed home.

I’ve never been capable of taking pics of the debris lining the roads as people gut their homes after the floods. It is more than just the stuff that was ruined. To me it represents the feeling I do identify with – my insides being ripped out and standing over them looking at the debris of me.

Grief will do that to you.

In the process of gutting their homes, the debris is hauled to the side of the road. It’s all you can do. Then you have to look at it everyday until the removal trucks come by and pick it up. It can be months.

Can you imagine looking at that everyday?

I did, however, stop to take this picture.

This family had gutted their home – you can see tiny signs of the piles above the mailbox there and to the right of the flag. It hadn’t been hauled to the road yet.

This is what they had placed on the side of the road.

A cross made out of pipe. A flag draped around it. A small flag beside that.

Hope.

In the midst of their tragedy, this is what they wanted the world to see.  Their hope.

Yes, all their worldly possessions were ripped out from their home. It all lay in lumps on the ground.

Grief does that to us. But, we are not helpless.

We get to choose what will define our process. Choosing hope will set us free. God coming alongside us – holding us close – will give us the courage to look down at our guts laying on the ground. He will help us find peace – and the journey is long – but with time we won’t be focused on the debris but the healing we have experienced. We can’t set a time limit on the process and decide that is the day it will end. We do get to lift our eyes to the cross – to God – to find the strength to go on.

I love that the cross is made of such a solid pipe. It is meant to last. It was intentional.

The cross we embrace as children of God is solid my friends. It isn’t going to be destroyed by any man. Ever.

My faith and hope and trust placed on that cross – is forever. Intentional – a choice I DO get to make.

I love that God loves me so much –

“Psalm 27:14

                          Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage,

                             and He shall strengthen your heart.

                                     Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

I wait Lord. I believe. I trust. I hope.

Join me today in looking to God and inviting Him to join you in your journey. No matter what stage of grief you are in, He will meet you there and join you.

“Lord, we invite You into our journeys today. Join us wherever You find us today. The debris of our lives piles so high at times we can’t even see over it and we look at it and we have no clue where to start. It’s ugly. The “stuff” we have collected inside us all these years. Please help us to shed the weight of it that keeps us so tired and sad. Renew us Lord – just as these people will rebuild, Lord, we don’t have to wait on FEMA or insurance companies to begin the process in us. We can start now Lord with Your help. We wait. We believe. Forgive us our shortcomings. We love You. Amen.”