When I was in college, I took a class one semester on religious cults. The class was fairly small, and I knew almost everyone in there. Except there was a new girl. I had never seen her before, and she was very different than what I was used to seeing in my school. She wore all black, sometimes with spikes on her clothes, and she had many piercings. But what made her really different, causing her to stand out so starkly amongst my classmates, was her anger. In our class on religion, it was very clear that she was angry at God.

At first, I chose to ignore her. She was different, and it is always easier to ignore different when it makes us uncomfortable. But as the semester wore on, the Lord kept bringing her to my mind. She sat alone day in and day out, and she needed a friend. He wanted me to be that person, so finally, I befriended her. What I learned has stayed with me ever since.

The other night, Trey and I were going through our nightly bedtime routine with our three children. He was managing our two kids, who are 3 and 5, while I was getting our youngest, who is 15 months, dressed for bed. After Trey tucked Justin into bed, I heard him instruct Kate, our oldest, to put on her pajamas and to brush her teeth. We had gotten in from church earlier that evening, so while Kate did as he instructed, Trey stepped outside to finish cleaning out the minivan from our day’s activities. 

We have a small ranch-style house, and all three bedrooms are on the same hallway. This hallway also leads out into our garage. As I was putting on Alisa’s diaper and pajamas, I heard the alarm over our garage door beep. I thought nothing of it since I knew Trey was going in and out of the house, but I also wondered what Kate was doing. She should have been brushing her teeth by that point, but I assumed she had gotten sidetracked playing in her room, as she often does. 

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me….”

It is the first line in a two-part prayer that has been known throughout history. Bearing the complete and desperate honesty of a Man who was experiencing absolute brokenness, this prayer reveals one who knew of the bitter cup from which He was about to drink. And like many similar prayers that have escaped the lips of others throughout the course of time, this agonizing part of His prayer was answered with silence. God said no.

We are officially one week into 2017!

By internet standards, this blog post is a day late and a dollar short. I must admit, though, that while the New Year is already old news to the blogosphere, I am barely finding the quiet moments needed to tread into that deeper place of my heart, dust off the cobwebs, and reflect on this past year as I also contemplate a new beginning. A fresh start. Another year. 

“Love is patient, love is kind…”

First, a story.

Several weeks ago, I took our youngest daughter to her therapy appointments. Alisa is 12 months old, and she receives occupational therapy and physical therapy twice a week. Alisa also has Down syndrome.