The first great trauma in life is when we figure out our parents don't have all the answers. It may be something truly out of their control like a serious illness with painful treatments needed or it may be a divorce or the death of a beloved grandparent or a neighborhood bully. Or maybe they just were careless about promising only what they could deliver. Eventually the universal truth will dawn: parents are imperfect and not all powerful.
I was so blessed that my parents prepared me for this eventuality as best they could over the years. We had many bumps and a deep sense of outrage on my part as in the teenage battle cry: "How could you!" But by their example they showed me that there is an eternal and reliable source of truth and strength and comfort. They explained to me that there was no "fair" but that we are called to advocate for truth and kindness, even when they did not perfectly follow their own advice.
So who did they trust? God. As my World War II veteran Dad resumed civilian life, he struggled. But his faith saw him through. As my parents divorced and my Mom had to learn to live as the independent women she had never longed to be, her faith saw her through. And as we tended for and buried each, my faith (not exactly the faith of either, but a faith tenderly nurtured by both) saw me through.
So, whatever particular gift from hell landed in your lap today, face it with this possibility: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.*
*1 John 4:16 (NIV)
I was so blessed that my parents prepared me for this eventuality as best they could over the years. We had many bumps and a deep sense of outrage on my part as in the teenage battle cry: "How could you!" But by their example they showed me that there is an eternal and reliable source of truth and strength and comfort. They explained to me that there was no "fair" but that we are called to advocate for truth and kindness, even when they did not perfectly follow their own advice.
So who did they trust? God. As my World War II veteran Dad resumed civilian life, he struggled. But his faith saw him through. As my parents divorced and my Mom had to learn to live as the independent women she had never longed to be, her faith saw her through. And as we tended for and buried each, my faith (not exactly the faith of either, but a faith tenderly nurtured by both) saw me through.
So, whatever particular gift from hell landed in your lap today, face it with this possibility: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.*
*1 John 4:16 (NIV)
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