On the upper side of the earth’s hemisphere, if you keep traveling north, it gets colder and darker, depending on the time of year. I live in a pretty northern part of the world where winters mean darkness creeping over around 4 PM and sun rising well after 8 AM. Our “summers” aren’t much warmer although the sun stays out for much longer. But rain and grey often damper our summers for weeks at a time.
Community Series Q&A: The Initiators
What do you do when you are always the one initiating things and are never pursued yourself
Answered by Caitlin Lieder
Initiating is tough because it is vulnerable. You are putting yourself out there with the possibility of someone saying no, not to mention you are making plans that may not be to the liking of everyone around you. It’s a huge step of faith in your relationships that tests your fear of rejection and failure.
Oh, precious Saint, take heed
Darkness overwhelms, consumes, swallows up. Oh, precious Saint, take heed; God is there and holding you.
William Cowper knew this anguish and wrote:
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm
Small Graces
When my husband and I first got married, we prayed every night for mentors. We didn’t have many deep relationships at all when we first got married, as we hadn’t lived in the area for very long before we tied the knot, so we certainly didn’t have any healthy relationships with older married couples. We longed for that. We were young—still in college—and wanted to start our marriage off strong, with an older man and woman to guide us along the way. A good prayer, right?
Community Series Q&A: How do we open our eyes to see everyone around us?
Answered by Caitlin Lieder
How do we open our eyes to see everyone around us, not just those who look and act like we do? Those who might be in a different stage of life or a different salary bracket or have less/more education. The single moms. Single people, period. The introverts who blend into the background.
