It was another sad story in a week of sad stories. A farmer's wife lost her 31-year-old husband unexpectedly. Several friends were asking for prayers for their hospitalized loved ones. I was struggling to forgive someone for damage done to our property. By the end of the week, the bad news seemed to smother my mood like a heavy, wet blanket.
Yes, problems may seem to multiply much faster than the solutions. But, even in the midst of struggles, there are miracles to be found.
A small-town police chief saves many others from harm through his quick response to a shooting. A community bands together to honor the living and the dead. Many there have responded with "shalom justice," a way to "choose love over fear." (Click on the link for a wonderful commentary by Michele Hershberger, a professor of Bible and Ministry at Hesston College).
A group of Farmer's Wives from all over North America who know each other only through a Facebook page came together to raise more than $1,100 for one of their own. People gathered on a Saturday afternoon to help a hospitalized church member get things moved into a new home.
These are the miracles in the midst of tragedy. For me, those glimpses of light and love are the way that we are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.
Wobbly baby calf from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.
Sometimes we wobble and fall just like the little guy in your video, but the support and love of family and friends during those tough times of life enables us to get up and keep going. Thanks for pointing out these miracles, Kim!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cindy. I definitely wobble from time to time, and last week was one of those weeks.
DeleteSomeone at our Church was talking on Sunday about looking for JOY in the midst of hard times. This fits well with your blog post today! We have a lot of connections to Hesston KS...relatives have gone there, friends have gone there, our son almost went there...children of friends are there now...it's so much harder to hear about when you know people affected by the tragedy. Thanks for the love sightings you shared today!
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking about the people personally impacted by the shootings and praying for all of them. Thanks for your words of encouragement to me!
DeleteA beautiful post Kim. There is so much love and beauty out there, if only the media spent more time writing about it, there might be less of the sad news headlines.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen. When I was hired at The Hutchinson News right out of college, I was hired in the Focus department. I think one of the reasons they hired me was that I told them I didn't have ambitions of being the next Woodward and Bernstein. I wanted to write feature stories, the interesting stories about people. While I had to do some "hard news" reporting, I sure preferred the other. (I cried at my first fire, by the way.)
DeleteWell said Kim. We all need to know joy in our lives specially in hard times. Learning to look for those moments of beauty in each day has certainly helped me. May the week ahead be full of moments of beauty for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lynda. I hope the same for you.
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