The Darkest hour comes before Dawn

And so I have decided that I will no longer make direct posts, I will now create posts in document forms and then COPY+PASTE!!

This is after I just created a (might I add, very heartfelt) post, and the webpage decided to close down 'to save data' to compliment whatever other ridiculous budget it was on. I was upset to say the least. I started crying, because at 1:44 am, when you have completed some thing you have been wanting to, and it slips out of your hands, you're exhausted and tired and just cannot fathom why some things happen the way they do. But now that I am thinking about it, it may just have given me an 'oomph' or a message possibly lacking in my post.

The original post told of an older couple that we met tonight, sitting across from us in McD's, and how the unfortunate seating arrangements of the minute new building forced strangers to meet and discover that they shared not one but two problems.

Basically the post was to remind us that we are not alone in this world of tribulations. Tonight between the four of us it felt like a mini-mass in McD's as we re-assured each other that God has a way, a time and a reason. Each reminded the other to pray, to keep the faith. God guides us, even when we don't realise it. This is why, when we intend on going to Nando's, God sends us to its greasier equivalent.

Tonights meeting I imagine was to help us, but moreso to help that pair, to let them know that yes, God is still their, just hang in there. There are others like you who share your frustrations and who he will send your way to encourage you to stay strong.

But isn't that the point of the Lenten journey anyway? To observe the pain that Jesus had to endure, not necessarily the physical agony, but the betrayal?
But then too, after his crucifixion, God raises Christ to power!

Do you see the analogy here?

As we carry our crosses, some so different and some so disturbingly the same; as we go through traumas physical and emotional, it does not last forever.

Our Lord is with you every step of the way. If he brings you to it, he'll bring you through it.

Lets open our hearts now, as we near the end of lent. Prepare for the sorrow as we approach Good Friday. And remember that no sooner has he fallen and been crucified, has his father - Our Father- raised him in Glory!

Remember that the darkest hour is before dawn. And when you pray, pray for others facing the same challenges as you are. They too, need comfort in these trying times.

"I shall then show forth Thy praise, Serve Thee all my happy days; Then the world shall always see Christ, the holy Child, in me"

The gifted Russ Blassoples, who has so far been the person to be the most impressionable on me with regard to spirituality, has reminded me of the child. Children. Being childlike. In a post he speaks about when Jesus told the story of people pulling gloomy faces to show that they are fasting, and he explains how he hopes that Jesus would have been pulling these faces when telling the story to children .

This makes me think that we forget sometimes that the children in our world are going to be tomorrows adults and that they too need spiritual guidance. We should not just leave them to do 'kiddy things', we need to remember that as adults and as leaders, we have a responsibility to share our spirituality with them. That doesn't mean we must say 'No TV!' for the next month, this is not punishment. This simply means that we should share stories with them, open them up to spirituality so that they may accept it when it is time and so that they there is somewhere to go, somewhere to turn to when they feel at a loss.

Teach children to pray, if only at night before they go to sleep, or at the table before they eat. And perhaps, we have lost touch with our faith somewhat. life is an ongoing struggle and sometimes we may feel despondent. Maybe if we take on the mission to introduce spirituality to our children, a niece, a friends child, or a neighbours child, we will rediscover our own faith as we are reminded of what it is like to be childlike, to be open and eager to learn.

In any case is it not true that we need to be childlike to enter His Kingdom? Let us remind ourselves what is like to be childlike, trusting God.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.

Fain I would to Thee be brought,
Dearest God, forbid it not;
Give me, dearest God, a place
In the kingdom of Thy grace

Lamb of God, I look to Thee;
Thou shalt my Example be;
Thou art gentle, meek, and mild;
Thou wast once a little child.

Fain I would be as Thou art;
Give me Thine obedient heart;
Thou art pitiful and kind,
Let me have Thy loving mind.

Let me, above all, fulfill
God my heav’nly Father’s will;
Never His good Spirit grieve;
Only to His glory live.

Thou didst live to God alone;
Thou didst never seek Thin own;
Thou Thyself didst never please:
God was all Thy happiness.

Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,
In Thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Savior, what Thou art,
Live Thyself within my heart.

I shall then show forth Thy praise,
Serve Thee all my happy days;
Then the world shall always see
Christ, the holy Child, in me.