Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
Job 38:22-23
The brown, brittle-twig Rises up from the Root All the green leaves have gone Leaving only a little shoot A bare and dried-up bush No use to anyone Buried deep in the snow Reflecting the warm, beaming-Son Shining and glistening Displayed for all to see The Root, the snow, the Son Working together in harmony
my inspiration
You were like a leafy bush, and many little things came from you to shelter. You weren’t to great or important, but you could help those little things. And it was the joy of your life to help them. Now you can do nothing at all. A trouble no one seems to understand – has overwhelmed you. All your green leaves have gone. Now you cannot shelter even the least little bird. You are like a bush with its bare twigs. No use to anyone. That is what you think.
But look again at this bare bush. Look at the delicate tracery of its shadow-lines on the snow. The sun is shining behind the bush and so every little twig is helping to make something that is very beautiful. Perhaps other eyes, that you do not see, are looking on it too, wondering what can be made of sun and snow and poor bare twigs… He will not fail you, who is the God of the sun and the snow.
Amy Carmichael, Figures of the True, p. 1.
my hero
My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “My great hurt” and I never want to forget this.
On Monday, February 6, 2023 (only seven months after my Dad’s diagnosis of ALS), the neurologist told us that my Dad could contact hospice – whenever he felt ready. I need the courage to trust – just like my Dad. He is the bravest man that I know.
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