Up Ahead

For the next three days, I will be writing on my phone again. And, like last time, I’ll be doing it from New York.

Charli and I are headed to check out NYU, Mercy, and Vassar.

Then Monday evening, I’ll be writing from my couch and cannot guarantee anything that I write will make a lick of sense on the heels of my foot surgery (no pun intended) and any subsequent pain meds. But I will write anyway.

Today at work, I ran around campus gathering some of the items I always use for our annual Preview Breakfast in January. Trying to get a head start on it since I know I’m supposed to take it easy on the foot the next few weeks.

A foreboding feeling came over me. I remembered this time last year beginning the planning for the Preview Breakfast. And I remembered how close we are to December.

It’s like knowing a storm is coming but you don’t really know the severity of it. From all indicators, it’s going to be fierce. You do the best you can do to prepare. But you can’t control the storm or the aftermath. You can just hold on and ride it out.

I felt this way in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day. And to Chandler’s birthday.

As scary as those days were, this feels scarier right now.

Again, I turn to my new friend, Dr. Edith Eva Eger for wisdom. Her metaphor isn’t the storm but rather the valley: “To heal, we embrace the dark. We walk through the shadow of the valley on our way to the light.”

God, I know there is darkness ahead. There is also light. Give me the grace, courage, and strength to embrace both. Amen.