My Journey Through The Dark Valley – Day 77

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Saturday, July 13th – Day 77

Yesterday was difficult – a trip to the Register of Wills – more paperwork – and on the way home Garth Brooks was on the radio singing If Tomorrow Never Comes.

All of that triggered a lot of emotions and I woke up this morning with those lyrics running through my mind.

Sometimes late at night I lie awake and watch her sleeping.

She’s lost in peaceful dreams so I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark.

And the thought crosses my mind – if I never wake in the morning

Would she ever doubt the way I feel about her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes will she know how much I loved her

Did I try in every way to show her every day that she’s my only one?

And if my time on earth were through and she must face this world without me

Is the love I gave her in the past going to be enough to last if tomorrow never comes

‘Cause I’ve lost loved ones in my life who never knew how much I  loved them

Now I live with the regret that my true feelings for them never were revealed

So I made a promise to myself to say each day how much she means to me

And avoid that circumstance where there’s no second chance to tell her how I feel

If tomorrow never comes will she know how much I loved her

Did I try in every way to show her every day that she’s my only one?

And if my time on earth were through and she must face this world without me

Is the love I gave her in the past going to be enough to last if tomorrow never comes

So tell that someone that you love just what you’re thinking of

If tomorrow never comes

Lord, that was one impact that the lupus diagnosis had on our life.

We stopped saying – Some Day – and lived each day to the fullest.

Sometimes it was a big event – like our RV trip across the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back, or the move to Missouri but more often it was simple things – like riding the fence line together in the Gator, a walk in the woods, working together in the garden, or sitting in the rocking chairs on the front  porch watching the humming birds.

Lord. I thank You for all those days together – even the difficult days – because those times made us stronger.

What an adventure You led us on!

And there will be a “Tomorrow” when at last You call me home and I see him again.

THE CANDLE OF HOPE

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Today we light the candle of HOPE.

O LORD,

as I light this first candle of the Advent season

– the candle of HOPE –

I am reminded of the hope that I have in You.

My Advent wreath holds small jar candles.

The flame is small but steady, giving light in the darkness.

The darkness cannot overcome the light that it gives.

We live in a world that threatens to overwhelm us with the darkness of evil.

There are wars,

Russia attacking Ukraine, Hamas terrorists attacking Israel;

and civil wars

in the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

There are countries experiencing terrorist insurgencies and ethnic violence.

 There are drug wars in South America.

There are natural disasters

volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires,

flooding in some areas with severe drought in others.

There are fears of another pandemic,

supply chain issues,

financial concerns,

and a lack of trust in our own government.

And the list goes on.

All of this leads to a sense of despair,

a lack of hope.

But I am reminded when I see the small flame of my Advent candle,

the darkness cannot overcome the light.

LORD,

You know the state of this world.

For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world;

but that the world through Him might be saved.

He that believeth on Him is not condemned:

but he that believeth not is condemned already,

because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation,

that LIGHT is come into the world,

and men loved darkness rather than LIGHT,

because their deeds were evil.

John 3:16-19

LORD,

You had a plan from the beginning.

In the beginning was the WORD,

and the WORD was with GOD,

and the WORD was GOD.

The same was in the beginning with GOD.

All things were made by HIM:

and without HIM

was not anything made that was made.

In HIM was life;

and the life was the LIGHT of men.

And the LIGHT shineth in the darkness;

and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:1-5

LORD,

You are our HOPE!

These things I have spoken unto you,

that in Me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation:

but be of good cheer;

I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

And so on this the First Sunday of Advent

I thank You for the birth of a tiny babe so long ago,

Jesus Christ,

Emmanuel,

God with us.

And I thank You for the promise,

Let not your heart be troubled:

ye believe in God,

believe also in Me.

In my Father’s house are many mansions:

if it were not so,

I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you,

I will come again,

and receive you unto myself;

that where I am,

there ye may be also.

John 14:1-2

LORD,

As we await Your coming,

we live in a world where hope is scarce.

But for those who know YOU,

for those who trust in YOU,

we have this hope.

As You have cared for us in past days,

so we trust You to care for us this day,

and in the days to come.

As we await the day of Your return,

show us how to live in this world

in such a way as to bring

honor, glory and praise

to Your Holy Name.

AMEN