This weekend in celebration of Pentecost we listened to many stories. Friday night had a pot luck supper and stories, Saturday morning had "afternoon tea in the morning" with stories and the Sunday service had more stories.
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| Afternoon Tea in the Morning |
I listened to the stories. This is what I learned....
It was lovely to listen to familiar faces tell their stories. They all prefaced what they said with the disclaimer that they were nervous and slightly reluctant to share their story...but when they began to tell their tale, it was difficult to silence them.
In a hundred different words they spoke of God's great grace and his great love.
They told us about how their lives were not easy, even though God was with them.
They reminded us that we did not really know them, or their struggles and they shouted out..."be gentle with me, do not judge me, because this is hard and I get it wrong...but God loves me"
And then some quietly added..."God STILL loves me"
I was reminded...
We learn so much listening to other people's stories. Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. I like this quote...
But sometimes, when we are living in the middle of a sad story it seems so hard to imagine how it will end.
It is comforting to know that the end...the ultimate end has already been revealed to us.
So no matter how difficult the now, or how sad the ending seems today, I believe in the ultimate "happily ever after" But until EVERY tear is wiped away, I will listen to your stories of struggles and battles and pain because you will punctuate the story with love and grace and friendship.
And if you asked me to share what I know over scones and macaroons, I would tell you two things;
1. Life is beautiful
2. Life is hard
But if you pressed me to tell what I know to be true I would tell you only this. I need God.
Without Him, I would miss so much of the beauty of life and I could not endure the hard.
