Texas has been hit with a major storm, bringing ice, snow and loss of power and heat for millions. We are part of that group. I am currently at the church getting warm and writing to you. It can seem frivolous writing this blog with everything going on... pipes bursting, health issues, homelessness. Our church is getting ready to open a warming center.

It’s been cold and hard. We did have Jaydon for a bit, which made playing with the snow so fun! But mostly cold and hard.

Ever have one of those days, weeks, months, years?

I recently heard Hannah Brencher say: “Do the work, right here, right now. Start small. Be faithful over fancy.”

Sometimes it’s not about getting a special word or an action plan. Sometimes it’s just showing up. it’s about being faithful. It’s about holding onto what you know to be true in the dark, cold night buried under a million layers of blankets.

We all want to look fancy and put together. We like to have control and manage the optics. What happens when circumstances take that away? What happens when we get side-swiped by life?

We be faithful. We continue doing what we know to do…the last thing we knew to do. We do that. We reach out for help or to help.

“The wall that served me in one season, can become a prison in another.”
~ Michael Todd

This past year was hard. We all pulled back and hunkered down to be safe and do our part. What if the wall we placed around our lives are now a prison that we are hiding in?

The best scenario for us is when I’m down, Dean is up. When Dean is down, I am up. When we are both down, we eventually get to a good place, but it takes longer. There may be time that we need to build a wall to regroup and realign. Then there will be a time when we need to leave the security of the wall and once again step out.

The thing about life is finding the rhythm of it and not letting any one season become your one-and-only season. Where you stay longer than you needed to. My mom used to say: “This too will pass.” I’m grateful for the hard times to move on, and want the good ones to last forever. But they come to an end at some point.

I Kings 19 tells the story about Elijah after his run-in with Jezebel. For a time God let Elijah stay under the tree and rest. He ate and slept. Then he walked for 40 days and nights and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. God met Elijah in the whisper. Not the powerful wind or the earthquake or the fire. The gentle whisper. He quietly told him to go back. So Elijah did. He left that time of rest and solitude to continue to the next thing God had for him.

Listen, I know! I know life can be hard and sometimes you need to take a beat or two, but let’s not take ourselves out of it. We still have the next thing to do.

“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or the left.” Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)

No matter what you need, a place for rest or a kick in the pants, God will be with you.

Have a great day and don’t forget that you are loved and seen!
All my Love~
Jodi xoxo

A Franciscan Benediction
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection and starvation, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

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