The Importance of Being There
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the Earth.—REVELATION 14:3 NIV
Wind chimes make beautiful music. The clapper bounces among the metal pipes, creating a magical tinkling sound. Without action and interaction, the chimes would be silent. Movement and collision are essential to the wind chimes’ song.
Sometimes the words action and interaction, movement and collision describe a caregiver’s life. We take actions of various sorts and interact with not only our loved ones but all the medical, social service, and legal people involved in their care. We’re in constant movement and often collide with the challenges that caregiving pose: We attempt an outing but our patient gets sick and can’t go. We set aside money for a future surprise but medical necessities demand that we spend it now. We try a new cutting-edge remedy but our loved one’s health deteriorates.
When our efforts are thwarted by barriers, we can fret and complain—or, at the point of collision, we can sing a song of surrender. The words go something like this: Lord, I don’t understand, but Your will be done.
With each ping of surrender, our lives—like those wind chimes—become a unique and poignant song that pleases God.
Lord, Your grace enables me to sing the surrender song. Let me sing beautiful music that pleases You.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.—2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NIV)
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.—Proverbs 19:8 (NIV)