August 26, 2008 7:11 AM
Finding hope in the everyday
Catching up on my life:
Jonny came home from the hospital Sunday morning. They let him wear a pair of scrubs home. He showered yesterday but put them back on. I'm going to have to find a way to help him remember he does have other clothes :)
I spent two nights in the hospital with Jonny and Tripp spent two. And I brought the brothers to see him on Saturday so they would have a concrete picture of what was going on (always gotta remember to see things from a child's perspective - hearing that someone is in the hospital is very abstract). We live 70-90 minutes away, depending on traffic, so I had lots of time to listen to CDs Zach has made me (love his love language!). One cut was "Marching Bands of Manhattan" by Death Cab for Cutie, which has some haunting lyrics:
Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half empty or half full
It slowly rises, your love is going to drown
I've mentioned before that I really love the Indy music Zach is sharing with me. Love the poetry and think that while my generation may have been stronger on instrumental creativity - although I love the rhythms of today's - this generation has it all over us in lyrics.
Yeah, gotta watch that sorrow. And gotta watch being distracted by hopeless debates. Still, the message in context of the song is plaintive and somewhat lacking in hope.
So my final trip home on Saturday (Tripp brought Jonny home on Sunday), I was feeling a little set back with all my boxes lying around still waiting to be unpacked and all those blogs I had wanted to write (I saw a premier for IOUSA and want to review it soon). I felt frustrated because my life is not really my own. Sorrow was creeping into my heart through a pinhole, in other words.
Then I found this:
In my absence, my family had left a window open onto the front porch for several days (we usually lock things up at night) and a vine from beside the porch had begun a valiant effort to develop new territory. At least 10 inches of growth in four days - that's pretty amazing!
I remembered walking in Novato, CA with Zach way back when - he was five or six, I think (could I have ever imagined him today at 20?) - and I pointed out the green bursting out from cracks in the sidewalk. I wanted him to know what a strong force life is, that it can overcome so many obstacles and setbacks.
Life is about hope. God did instill the capacity for hope in each one of us. While I am sorry to see that word bandied about as a political tool, I know that God is gracious to give us each signs of His love for us and the reality of the hope we have in Him - as He did with me Sunday morning. A little image/gift He'd already prepared for me in my absence from home.
My motto this week: Don't focus on what I haven't done yet, but on what God has already done for me - and for all of us.
Posted in Family, Inspiration, Music, My life | Permalink
Comments
Amen! Life can really drag you down at times and it's those times that I really have to cling to the cross! Not by my will and my might, but by His and His alone!
Posted by: Jen K | August 26, 2008 8:23 AM
