The view from my window may be sunny....

but just ten minutes down the road, the fog and gloom are still firmly in place. In the same way, we are currently experiencing a lull in family crises, but many we know are having hard times. Yes, I am thinking of Haiti but also of ones I know who are suffering much closer to home. Unemployment that shows no end in sight, beloved teens who are walking dark roads, marriages that are crumbling under the pressure of life, relationships that are strained through lists of rules and expectations rather than built up by grace, medical horrors that result in long hospital stays. In big and small ways, many I know are bent down and weary.

So in my day filled with crisp sunshine and brilliant blue expanses, I am praying for mercy, grace, endurance, and wisdom. For rest and peace when anxiety and sleeplessness are a choice away. And for love to be known, experienced, felt, seen and lived out for them.