Posts By Laura Bachynski

0 Garbage

June 25, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

WHILE OUT OF MY WALK YESTERDAY I WAS THINKING ABOUT GARBAGE.

MANY OF US ARE USING THIS TIME TO SORT THROUGH OUR STUFF AND CLEAN HOUSE. WE’RE ORGANIZING AND GIVING AWAY AND THROWING AWAY TOO. AND IT FEELS GOOD TO DO THIS. I ALWAYS FEEL BETTER WHEN MY LIFE IS UNCLUTTERED AND CLEAN.

AND IT’S TIRING TO DO THIS HARD WORK BUT IT’S ALSO SO REWARDING AND BECAUSE OF THE PLAGUE WE ACTUALLY HAVE MORE TIME TO DO THIS!

BUT I FIND THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE ‘SPEWING’ GARBAGE. WE CAN SIT ALL DAY IF WE LIKE WATCHING POLITICIANS AND NEWS STATIONS SPREADING LIES AND WE SOMETIMES FILL OUR MINDS WITH GARBAGE. “GARBAGE IN. GARBAGE OUT,” AS I’VE HEARD IT SAID.

I HOPE TO COME THROUGH THIS TIME FEELING GOOD ABOUT WHO I’VE BECOME BECAUSE OF IT. I’VE ALSO HEARD IT SAID,”YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.” (AND I HAVE EATEN SOME ‘GARBAGE’ FOODS AT THIS TIME JUST TO FEEL BETTER.HA HA) BUT ANOTHER THING I’VE HEARD IS ,”I THINK THEREFORE I AM “.

STEVE BELL SAYS, “I LOVE THEREFORE I AM”. AND I LOVE THAT!

I WANT LOVE TO SHINE THROUGH THESE DARK TIMES AND I WANT TO BE A LIGHT FOR OTHERS.

I KNOW WE CAN SURVIVE THIS NEW NORMAL AND I KNOW WE CAN ADAPT TO ANYTHING…AS DIFFICULT AS IT MIGHT BE TO THINK ABOUT A WORLD THAT POSSIBLY MIGHT HAVE TO CONTINUE TO KEEP DISTANCING AND HIDING BEHIND MASKS SO WE CAN BE SAFE FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

SO WHAT DO WE LOVE THE MOST: THE GARBAGE THAT WE WATCH OR COLLECT OR SPEW OR THE GOODNESS THAT CAN COME FROM KINDNESS AND FAITH AND CARING?

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE GARBAGE. BUT LET’S CHOOSE TO FILL OUR ‘VESSEL’ WITH HOPE . WE ARE WHAT WE LOVE.

0 Quest For A Gnome

June 24, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

I HAVE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF GARDEN GNOMES. I AM STILL QUITE AMAZED AT HOW MANY OF THESE WEE FELLOWS I STILL SEE DECORATING THE FRONT LAWNS (AND WINDOWS!) AROUND MY NEIGHBOURHOOD.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE WOULD STEAL GNOMES OUT OF PEOPLE’S GARDENS AND TAKE THEM ON THESE AROUND THE WORLD ADVENTURES? THEN WHEN THE KIDNAPPERS (GNOMENAPPERS?) RETURNED THEY WOULD SECRETLY RETURN THEIR TRAVEL CAPTIVES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNER WITH A ZIPLOK BAG OF ALL THE CITIES THE GNOME HAD VISITED.

WELL ,ONE DAY, OUR NEWSPAPER HAD A CONTEST FOR ITS READERSHIP. (I LOVE CONTESTS!) THE JOURNAL WOULD HIDE 80 GNOMES AROUND THE CITY AND POST CLUES EVERY DAY , (I THINK IT WAS 3 ONLINE AND 3 IN THE PAPER DAILY.)

I ALSO LOVE RIDDLES SO ON THE FIRST DAY I SET ABOUT TRYING TO SOLVE THE RIDDLE SO I COULD FIND THE GNOME. IF YOU FOUND ONE YOU WOULD BE INVITED TO A BIG PARTY AT THE END OF THE CONTEST WHERE YOU WOULD TRADE IT IN FOR WONDERFUL PRIZES LIKE GAS COUPONS, NIGHT’S OUT GIFT CERTIFICATES, BAGS OF BOOKS, AND ON AND ON. FUN!

NOW AT THE TIME MY HUSBAND WORKED OUT OF TOWN . IMAGINE HIS SURPRISE WHEN HE CALLED ME TO SAY HE WAS ON HIS WAY HOME AND I TOLD HIM I WAS IN A PARK AND TO HAVE THE CAB DROP HIM OFF THERE. HE ASSUMED I HAD A LOVELY DINNER PICNIC PLANNED FOR HIM BUT WHEN I SAID THAT I WAS SEARCHING FOR A GNOME….HE THOUGHT I’D LOST IT. HA HA HA HA!

I FILLED HIM IN ON MY QUEST AND RIGHT ON THE SPOT HE SAID HE WAS ‘IN’ AND WE BECAME OBSESSED WITH FINDING ONE OF THESE LITTLE GUYS.

EVERYDAY WE WOULD GET UP EARLIER AND EARLIER TO GET THE NEWSPAPER CLUE(ONLINE CLUES CAME LATER IN THE DAY) AND NO MATTER WHAT WE DID SOMEONE HAD ALWAYS BEATEN US TO THE GNOME!

IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE WE WOULD ACTUALLY SHOW UP AT THE JOURNAL BUILDING AS THEY WERE LOADING THE STACKS INTO THE TRUCKS AND WE’D GRAB ONE ‘HOT OF THE PILE’ TO BEGIN OUR NIGHTLY QUEST. WE GOT OUR CHILDREN AND FRIENDS INVOLVED WHEN WE FOUND OUT THAT PEOPLE HAD TEAMS OF FRIENDS IN 3 CITIES WORKING TOGETHER SO THAT SOMEONE WAS AT THE READY TO GRAB THE GNOME THE MINUTE A TEAM MEMBER WORKED OUT THE CLUE!

WE DROVE AROUND IN THE RAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SOMETIMES. WE WERE BAD PARENTS AND WE WOKE UP OUR TEENS TO JOIN US. WE FORCED OUR FRIENDS TO HELP. BECAUSE OF MY ARTHRITIS I SLOWED OUR ‘TEAM’ DOWN SO I WAS RELEGATED TO PUZZLE SOLVING DUTY. TERRY WOULD BE IN THE CAR , I’D CALL AND SAY, “GO. GO. GOOOOOO” AS SOON AS I TOLD HIM THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE THAT I SOLVED. THE RIDDLES ALMOST ALWAYS LED YOU TO A PARK IN ONE OF OUR THREE CITIES OF EITHER EDMONTON, ST.ALBERT, OR SHERWOOD PARK.

WE GOT CLOSER AND CLOSER TO GRABBING A GNOME , SOMETIMES MISSING IT BY AN ARM’S LENGTH. WE COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE PRIZES AT THIS POINT. WE JUST WANTED THAT GNOME !

FINALLY THERE WAS ONLY ONE. GNOME. LEFT.

WE MISSED THE MORNING CLUES SO I SAT ON THE COMPUTER WAITING FOR THE VERY LAST CLUE. AND LO AND BEHOLD, I FIGURED OUT THE PARK NAME WITHIN SECONDS OF READING IT AND IT WAS NEAR OUR OWN HOME !

TERRY SPED OFF STRAIGHT TO THE PARK WHERE THERE WERE ALREADY 2 OTHER PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH BUSHES AND FLOWERS. HE RAN UP WITH OTHER CARS HOT ON HIS HEALS AND SUDDENLY HE HAD AN IDEA THAT THE GNOME MIGHT BE AT THE OTHER END OF THE PARK. HE SPRINTED OFF TO CHECK WITH THE OTHER SEARCHERS RIGHT ON HIS HEALS.

SOON I WATCHED MY HUSBAND WALK THROUGH OUR DOOR WITH A SAD FACE. I WAS AS DEJECTED AS HIM BECAUSE IT WAS JUST SUCH A QUEST AND THIS WAS OUR VERY LAST CHANCE. BUT HE COULDN’T KEEP UP THE ACT FOR LONG , PULLED THE GNOME OUT FROM BEHIND HIS BACK AND SHOUTED WITH JOY, “WE GOT IT !”

SUCH A CRAZY TIME AND TONS OF FUN AND OF COURSE WE ENDED UP AT THE BIG EVENT WHERE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TRADE IN THE GNOMES FOR THE PRIZES. BUT NO ONE WANTED TO HAND THEM IN BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE HANDING OVER A TROPHY THAT TOOK YOU A YEAR TO EARN ! THE ORGANIZERS GAVE IN AND WE GOT TO KEEP THE GNOMES . I THINK THEY DREW NAMES FOR PRIZES AND WE WON THE GYM BAG FULL OF BOOKS ( WHICH IS ALSO WONDERFUL BECAUSE I LOVE TO READ).

TERRY WAS SHOCKED THAT SOME PEOPLE DIDN’T WORK AT ALL FOR THEIR GNOME. THEY JUST HAPPENED TO BE WALKING BY AND SPOTTED IT SO THEY TOOK IT. HA HA.

THAT CHRISTMAS I RECEIVED A VERY COOL AND FUN PRESENT FROM TERRY. HE SELF PUBLISHED A BOOK CALLED ‘QUEST FOR A GNOME’ AND IT TOLD THE WHOLE STORY. I ALSO RECEIVED A TEENY WEENY LITTLE GNOMIE IN MY STOCKING WHICH I HAVE NOW ACTUALLY TAKEN AROUND THE WORLD WITH ME WHEN WE TRAVEL AND HE’S HAD HIS PORTRAIT TAKEN TO THE DELIGHT OF FELLOW TRAVELLERS EVERYWHERE WE VISIT.

I NEVER LOOK AT A GARDEN GNOME THE SAME WAY AGAIN!

0 Family. Babies. Music.

June 22, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

A LOT OF FUN THINGS GOING ON LATELY IN AND AROUND FATHER’S DAY WEEKEND.

WE HAD A REALLY LOVELY, SHORT VISIT WITH OUR SON, WHO FLEW IN FROM VANCOUVER SO HE COULD PICK UP HIS ‘NEW VAN’ TO DRIVE IT HOME TO HIS GROWING FAMILY OF FIVE. IT WAS WONDERFUL TO BE WITH TWO OF MY FAVOURITE ‘DADS’ THIS WEEKEND AND WE WERE SO RELIEVED WHEN JARED CONTACTED US 16 HOURS LATER TO SAY HE WAS HOME SAFELY. PHEW!

WE CAN NOW REVEAL THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS AGAIN THIS FALL ! OUR BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, JENNY, IS ALMOST OVER THE PHYSICAL DISTRESS STEMMING FROM HER HYPEREMESIS PREGNANCY (SO MUCH ILLNESS AND BEDREST NEEDED AND 2 CHILDREN UNDER 5 AND OUR SON WORKING FROM HOME IN A SMALL APARTMENT!) TOUGH TIMES. WE CAN’T WAIT TO MEET OUR 6TH WEE ONE.

AND MUSIC! I CAN’T BELIEVE I AM WORKING ON MY 7TH SONG SINCE COMING HOME. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS TIME THAT IS INSPIRING THE MUSIC TO FLOW. PARTLY IT IS BECAUSE I AM FORCED TO STAY HOME..HA HA. BUT THIS GIVES ONE TIME TO REFLECT AND TIME TO REHEARSE. IT IS A BLESSING FOR SURE.

SO TIME TO GET TO WORK. FUN WORK. WISH ME LUCK!

0 Happy Father’s Day!

June 21, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

SENDING MY LOVE OUT TO ALL THE GOOD FATHERS OUT THERE WHO MAKE SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OUR FAMILIES.

I AM VERY BLESSED TO STILL HAVE MY OWN FATHER AND I MISS HIM SO.

MY HUSBAND IS TRULY THE MOST WONDERFUL FATHER…AND NOW GRANDFATHER…AND MY SONS ARE FOLLOWING IN TERRY’S FOOTSTEPS AS GREAT DADS THEMSELVES.

WE ARE BLESSED BY THEIR PRESENCE, HUMOUR , WISDOM AND LOVE.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO YOU AND YOURS AND TO THOSE FATHERS WHO YOU HOPE TO SEE AGAIN SOMEDAY….

1 Becoming

June 20, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

Me: Hello God.
God: Hello…
Me: I’m falling apart. Can you put me back together?
God: I’d rather not.
Me: Why?
God: Because you’re not a puzzle.
Me: What about all the pieces of my life that fall to the ground?
God: Leave them there for a while. They fell for a reason. Let them be there for a while and then decide if you need to get any of those pieces back.
Me: You don’t understand! I’m breaking up!
God: No, you don’t understand. You’re transcending, evolving. What you feel are growing pains. You’re getting rid of the things and people in your life that are holding you back. The pieces are not falling down. The pieces are putting in place. Relax. Take a deep breath and let those things you no longer need fall down. Stop clinging to pieces that are no longer for you. Let them fall. Let them go.
Me: Once I start doing that, what will I have left?
God: Only the best pieces of yours.
Me: I’m afraid to change.
God: I keep telling you: YOU’RE NOT CHANGING! YOU’RE BECOMING!
Me: Becoming, Who?
God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light, love, charity, hope, courage, joy, mercy, grace and compassion. I made you for so much more than those shallow pieces you decided to adorn yourself with and that you cling to with so much greed and fear. Let those things fall off you. I love you! Don’t change! Become! Don’t change! Become! Become who I want you to be, who I created. I’m gonna keep telling you this until you remember.
Me: There goes another piece.
God: Yes. Let it be like this.
Me: So… I’m not broken?
God: No, but you’re breaking the darkness, like dawn. It’s a new day. Become!! Become who you really are!!”

(Thank you Rebecca-Anne Stewart and Mandy Lee Head)

LET’S BECOME WHO WE WERE MEANT TO BE !

0 My Car Bubble

June 19, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

AS EDMONTON’S COVID NUMBERS START TO RISE AGAIN IT BECOMES IMPERATIVE THAT WE REMAIN DILIGENT IN OUR ANTI-PANDEMIC PROCEDURES.

I HEAR PEOPLE SAY, ‘I’M DONE WITH COVID!’ BUT COVID IS NOT DONE WITH US !

I HAVE BEEN IN MY PROTECTIVE BUBBLE IN MY HOUSE SINCE THIS ALL BEGAN. I HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN INTO A GROCERY STORE AS MY HUSBAND IS TRYING TO KEEP ME SAFE. GOOD GUY THAT TERRY!

BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST FOUR MONTHS I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SHARING MY ‘CAR BUBBLE’ WITH SOMEONE OTHER THAN TERRY. MY SISTER, PAULA, AND I LATCHED ONTO A BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY DAY AND HEADED OUT TO ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE SMALL TOWNS IN ALBERTA CALLED CAMROSE.

WE ‘MASKED IT UP’ FOR A QUICK BATHROOM STOP AT TIM HORTON’S AFTER OUR HOUR LONG JOURNEY AND THEN FOUND A PRETTY PICNIC SPOT NEXT TO A STREAM TO HAVE OUR PICNIC AND …YOU GUESSED IT….TILE RUMMY! LOVE THAT GAME !

IT FEELS REALLY GOOD TO HAVE THE BLESSING OF A SLIGHTLY EXPANDED BUBBLE AT THIS TIME….MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND, MY DAUGHTER AND HER HUSBAND, AND TONIGHT A VISIT FROM OUR SON, JARED, FROM VANCOUVER . FEELING BLESSED DESPITE THE TIMES . AND TODAY I RECEIVED A SURPRISE PACKAGE FILLED WITH WONDERFUL DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, BOOKMARKS, AND …DENTAL FLOSS !(BECAUSE ‘NONNY’ LIKES TO USE DENTAL FLOSS) HA HA.

I HOPE YOU ARE KEEPING SAFE IN YOUR BUBBLE.

2 What’s In Your Cup?

June 18, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

WHAT SPILLS OUT WHEN LIFE GETS TOUGH?

LIFE IS CERTAINLY TOUGHER THAN WE COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED 6 MONTHS AGO. WE ARE CHALLENGED IN SO SO MANY WAYS : HEALTH, FINANCES, LONELINESS BUT A FEW.

BUT IF WE FILL OUR ‘CUPS’ WITH THANKFULNESS FOR THE MANY MANY GOOD THINGS IN OUR LIFE THIS IS WHAT WILL SPILL OUT WHEN LIFE ‘BUMPS INTO US’ .

WHAT’S IN YOUR CUP TODAY?

2 Comfort Food

June 17, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

UNLIKE YESTERDAY , IT’S A RAINY, COLD DAY. ON DAYS LIKE THIS IT’S ALL ABOUT THE COMFORT FOOD!

FOR BREAKFAST I DECIDED TO MAKE ‘TAP TAP EGGS’ (AS MY GRANDCHILDREN CALL BOILED EGGS IN AN EGG CUP). THIS OF COURSE IS WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR SPOON TO REMOVE THE ‘CAP’ OF THE EGG SO YOU CAN DIP INTO THE LIQUID SUNSHINE INSIDE. YUM! AND DON’T FORGET THE ‘TOAST SOLDIERS’!

FOR LUNCH WE MIGHT HAVE HOMEMADE SOUP WITH AN ‘EVERYTHING BAGEL’ AND FOR DINNER , LIKE LAST NIGHT, WE MIGHT HAVE HOMEMADE BREAD WITH MY TURKEY CHILI . IT IS AMAZING HOW A COMFORTING MEAL CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD INSIDE AND OUT.

ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVOURITE COMFORT FOODS IS ‘THE WORD’ . THIS IS FOOD FOR MY SOUL.

I HAVE BEEN COMFORTED MANY TIMES IN MY TROUBLES AND I DO THINK THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PERHAPS COMFORT OTHERS BECAUSE OF THE PEACE I HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD.

SENDING YOU WARM THOUGHTS AND MY PRAYERS FOR YOUR COMFORT TODAY. PERHAPS IT’S TIME TO HAVE A ‘CUPPA’ WITH A NICE COOKIE RIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN.

LET’S COMFORT EACH OTHER WITH WORDS OF HOPE TOO!

0 She’s a Little Bit Country…

June 16, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

MY FIRST TIME DRIVING BY MYSELF FOR A SOCIAL DISTANCING DAY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.

THE SUN WAS SMILING ON MY TRIP TO FORT SASKATCHEWAN TODAY. I HAVEN’T SEEN MY PRETTY FRIEND, SHARON, SINCE CHRISTMASTIME SO IT WAS ABOUT TIME WE MADE THIS HAPPEN.

I’VE BEEN TRULY PROTECTED IN MY LITTLE WORLD , NOT EVEN HAVING TO DO GROCERIES, AS MY HUSBAND, TERRY, KNOWS HOW SUSCEPTIBLE I AM TO COLDS, ETC. SO IT FELT GOOD TO GET IN THE CAR ON THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY AND GO FOR A WEE ROAD TRIP BY MYSELF.

THE ‘BLONDS IN PINK’ HAD A NICE CATCH UP FOR SURE. I BROUGHT A BAG LUNCH, SHARON BROUGHT HER SANDWICH OUT OF THE HOUSE, AND WE SAT TOGETHER BUT APART IN HER LOVELY BACK YARD. TALK ABOUT FEELING YOU HAVE PLENTY OF SPACE TO DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM THE WORLD! THEY HAVE HORSES,CATS,HOMING PIGEONS,A BIG DOG, AND ALL KINDS OF BIRD FEEDERS AND HOUSES TO ATTRACT NUMEROUS BIRDIE RESIDENTS.

SHARON HAD TO PUT HER VERY LARGE GARDEN IN HERSELF THIS YEAR AS SHE HAS TO BE APART FROM HER FATHER WHO USUALLY HELPS(BUT WHO IS IN FORCED ‘LOCKDOWN’ AT HIS CARE HOME FOR NOW). THIS MAKES HER SAD AND LIKE MOST OF US SHE JUST LONGS FOR A HUG FROM THOSE SHE LOVES.

ON THE WAY HOME I PASSED THIS GLORIOUS TEMPLE AND PLENTY OF OLD BARNS AND GREEN FIELDS. THERE IS MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR WHEN YOU HAVE GOOD FRIENDS AND PLENTY OF SPACE TO BREATHE IN THE BEAUTY.

2 A Perfect Storm

June 15, 2020
by Laura Bachynski
· Blog

THESE ARE TWO OF THE PHOTOS THAT CAME OUT OF A TERRIBLE STORM IN CALGARY ON SATURDAY PAST. BEAUTY IN THEIR TERRIBLENESS.

WE SEEM TO BE IN THE MIDST OF A PERFECT STORM. WE ARE DROWNING IN THE TIME OF COVID. WE ARE LOST IN THE MIDST OF THIS ECONOMIC FALL-OUT. AND NOW WE HAVE THE ISSUES OF RACISM CAUSING DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. (GEORGE FLOYD AND NOW RAYSHARD BROOKS COME TO MIND)

UNSTABLE WEATHER CONTINUES TO OCCUR ALL OVER THE WORLD AND WE’RE JUST WAITING FOR THE MURDER HORNETS TO ARRIVE (HA HA).

WHAT IS THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL OF THIS? I BELIEVE IT’S FEAR.

Saint Francis de Sales SAID, “NEVER BE IN A HURRY; DO EVERYTHING QUIETLY AND IN A CALM SPIRIT. DO NOT LOSE YOUR INNER PEACE FOR ANYTHING WHATSOEVER,EVEN IF YOUR WHOLE WORLD SEEMS UPSET.”

THIS IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE. DOES IT SEEM SOMETIMES THAT GOD IS SILENT?

DO YOU REMEMBER THE BIBLICAL SCENE WHERE JESUS IS ASLEEP IN THE BOAT AND THE APOSTLES ARE FREAKING OUT BECAUSE OF THE SUDDEN STORM THAT IS THRASHING THEM ABOUT? I SOMETIMES HAVE TO PRAY, “I BELIEVE , HELP MY UNBELIEF”. Mark 9:23- 25 -BECAUSE IN THESE TIMES IT IS HARD NOT TO BE AFRAID.

I HAVE HAD TIMES IN MY LIFE THAT I HAVE YELLED AT GOD. FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WITH ME, MY HIP DISLOCATES, AND I HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO CALL AN AMBULANCE (BEFORE I HAD A CELL PHONE!). I WAS ANGRY AND FEARFUL AND CRIED OUT, ‘PLEASE HELP ME!” AND HE DID. IT IS O.K. TO SHOUT OUT TO GOD THIS WAY.

DOES GOD CARE WHEN WE FEEL LIKE WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS STORM? I INVITE YOU TO PRAY. Trevor Hudson SAYS THAT WE’RE NOT GIVING GOD INFORMATION BUT ‘ACCESS’ WHEN WE PRAY. WE DRAW TOWARDS A FATHER WHO CARES.

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE IMAGES I HAVE HEARD LATELY IS FROM Mimi Dixon WHO COMPARED GOD’S SILENCE TO PARENTS WHO TRY AND TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO WALK. THEY STABILIZE THEIR CHILD, LET GO, AND BACK UP A FEW PACES TO ALLOW THE CHILD TO TAKE THEIR FIRST STEPS.

THE CHILD WILL FALL , THE PARENT WILL RAISE THEM UP AND LET GO AGAIN. THE CHILD TAKES A FEW STEPS AND FALLS ONCE MORE. THIS PROCESS IS REPEATED WITH THE PARENT STANDING BACK UNTIL THEIR CHILD IS ABLE TO WALK ON THEIR OWN.

AND LIKE THIS PARENT, GOD IS WATCHING HOW WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THESE TIMES AND HE MIGHT BE STANDING BACK RIGHT NOW AND WATCHING HOW WE MOVE FORWARD. ‘HEAVEN IS HOLDING ITS BREATH AND BURSTS INTO APPLAUSE WHEN WE MAKE IT THROUGH.’

CAN WE TRUST THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS SCARY TIME ? YES! PRAYING THE PSALMS CAN BE A GREAT HELP AS MOST OF THEM WERE WRITTEN WHEN THE AUTHORS WERE ALSO STRUGGLING AND CRYING OUT TO GOD.

WE CAN TRUST THAT WE’RE NOT ALONE . HE IS WITH US IN THE STORM.

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