The Call

Not talking about my call to ministry but a telephone call that no one likes to receive. "Mom is in the hospital." That is what my dad said when he called late on April 1 and this wasn't a joke. Now my first thought was that he was talking about his mom who has been in and out of the hospital since Thanksgiving but he wasn't, "mom" was my mom. Now to better understand my panicked reaction it probably helps to know that my parents have never been in the hospital, so when I get this call my thoughts turn to the worst possible conclusions. I talked to my dad for a while and then I sent my sister a text asking if she had talked to my dad. Now she tends to "freak-out" more than I do and I figured I would be the one comforting her but when she called me she was surprisingly calm. This calmed me like nothing else could. If my sister was calm I had a better sense that everything was going to be OK.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn't mean that we will never experience any pain, hardship or loss. We live in a broken world and death is a reality of that. And even though we know that somehow things will always work out according to God's will that doesn't mean we wont have bad days. Even Jesus had these types of experiences. When he went to the garden to pray before he was arrested he was filled with a great deal of emotion and he went there to share that with God. The other powerful thing Jesus did in the garden was he didn't go alone. He brought Peter, James and John with him. Our faith is best experienced in a community. Jesus turned to his community during a challenging time just like I did when I was "freaking out" by calling my sister. We all need a strong community around us, people that we can turn to when we struggle. Have you found your community yet? If not please let me know, I would love to connect you with some folks who want to be a part of your faith life.

And incase you are wondering my mom went home that night and seems to be fine now.