Crushed? Or flying?

Yesterday I had a long conference by phone with the designer and project manager regarding the next issue of the SIM magazine. (We had sent them the text and photos last week; this call was to kick off the design process.) We agreed that the process had never before gone so smoothly, and we're excited about the potential impact of this issue about urban ministries. Since you've helped by prayer, I hope you'll take joy in the outcome. (If you're not getting the magazine and wish to, just let me know including mailing address; it's free.)

I went to the "Y" yesterday. I don't think I worked long or hard enough to do much good, but it's a start. I'm glad to feel so well.

This morning my devotional reading included a long poem by Mary Butterfield. It acknowledges that burdens tend to crush us, and we "enjoy our misery." But then the poem develops God's point of view. He saw:
A child of His in need of grace
And power to serve; a puny twig
Requiring sun and rain to grow.
An undeveloped chrysalis;
A weak soul lacking faith in God.
He could not help but see all this
And more. And then, with tender thought
He placed it where it had to grow--
Or die. To lie and cringe beneath
One's load means death, but life and power
Await all those who dare to rise above.
Our burdens are our wings; on them
We soar to higher realms of grace.

We all have burdens of one kind or other. May they turn out to be wings on which we soar to higher realms of grace. That's what I'm praying for.

Love,
Carol