There Are More Than Chapter 2s in the Valley of Suck
The silence is deafening at times.
It is an empty nest...no newborns any longer and no mother bird to keep things fresh.
It is a life that comes to many and in different forms. Sifting through memories and items kept but for reasons unknown, leaves this widower and only-parent wondering and contemplating the next steps. I know many who feel similar. Some take it better than others it seems. Some of us, caregivers, widows, and/or widowers do it in fits and starts.
As a clergy, I feel the pressure of having all the answers...somehow I should know how to do this but I don’t.
I have a new relationship too. I have found that love can keep expanding to incorporate a new person in my life. Some describe it as a “Chapter 2.”
I don’t like it. It is too confining. We are more than single chapters and the lives of those who hold our hearts deserve more. I think we are writing whole new novels, and some, short stories. Some of our lives are novellas. Some are creating poetry and others sculptures, hundreds of them. New paintings are being made and new sketches drawn filling canvases and notebooks. New music with new beats and heart-felt lyrics fill the cloud!
I don’t like it. It is too confining. We are more than single chapters and the lives of those who hold our hearts deserve more. I think we are writing whole new novels, and some, short stories. Some of our lives are novellas. Some are creating poetry and others sculptures, hundreds of them. New paintings are being made and new sketches drawn filling canvases and notebooks. New music with new beats and heart-felt lyrics fill the cloud!
And we still hurt and we still long for something more. Easter Sunday reminded us of that which we were longing for...hope. But I, a frail, weak, and broken pastor is not the source of hope. A whole, living, and risen Jesus, there is the reason for hope! In our fallenness, there is the mercy we long for so dearly.
Walking the valley of suck, I have been disappointed again and again and I confess, I have been a disappointment to others. Friends have gone their own way, promises unkept. But in the valley, the words of God still echo, “I will not leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).”
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3 comments:
True!
So true, Ken. Although not found my Chapter 2. All else said, hits and rings true.
Thanks for sharing. And yet even in your broken state, not sure of your coming or going, God is using you as a messenger of His grace and mercy. You bring comfort and assurance to others in our own states of brokenness. Keep on keeping on. The main thing is the main thing. God is good. Blessings to you Pastor Ken!
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