Peaceful Tghiavniknsg
Today’s post has been simmering on the back burner of my mind for a while. I hope I get it right and that it blesses you. That is my only intention. I long to be more like Jesus. He could say a few words in a parable and every open, listening heart was blessed.
I appreciate those of you who have trusted me with your stories. My heart aches for those of you whose families are causing pain, especially as you head into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. You and all the others in your same situation are the reason I am sending this out today.
I think most of us–probably all of us–long for a truly joyous experience during this wonderful time. We want so desperately to be with those we love and to share happy and peaceful times. We also want desperately for those we love to want to be with us–and to let us know that.
While some people will do whatever it takes to be with kith and kin, not everyone feels that way. So many things can get in the way. Sometimes it’s parents who aren’t together anymore. Sometimes it’s a spouse who walked away. Sometimes it’s relatives who still hurt so much from things that happened to them long ago that they just don’t know how to love us in a way that feels good and right. Sometimes it is mixed up priorities. Sometimes it’s just plain selfishness. Sometimes we just don’t know what is in the way of that love that we long for–we just know that something is. And sometimes our loved ones are doing the very best they can in their circumstances; and we would understand, if only we knew.
I well remember a holiday when one of my relatives had a mistaken view of the way I was taking care of a family responsibility. I tried and tried to make things right. I called. I texted. I emailed, but this person wouldn’t even talk to me. I longed to be with this person’s family one holiday, but we weren’t invited. Even calls on that day were left unanswered. It was months before I was finally able to force a face-to-face meeting. As we talked that day, it seemed as if the scales fell off this person’s eyes and I could finally be seen for who I really am. I know what it feels like for a precious holiday to be like the title to this blog–a Thanksgiving that is all mixed up.
Sometimes it’s hard really to trust that God loves you when other people treat you in a way that says you aren’t important, whether they are aware of what they are doing or whether they have no idea at all that they are doing it. It’s especially hard when it is people who ought to know better. At times like that it helps me to remember who hurt Jesus. It was the people who ought to have known better.
I pray that God will give you peace, that He will help you live these Thanksgiving holidays in a way that blesses others, and that He will help you open your eyes and heart to the love He has for you. You are the apple of His eye.
Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me in the shadow of Your wing.
Psalm 17:8