A Dark Day

I'm having a really dark day...

On the lightest note, Sophie is sick, and she can't sleep all through the night without waking up to cough and wipe snot from her nose...Of course, she cries to be held each time....every 1/2 hour. So I'm admittedly tired as I began the day.

Last night my uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer. They know little at this point, but the "C" word is always scary, and apparently, the tumor was large. Please pray for my Uncle Kent and his family...that God would offer his peace and that good news may be had.

This weekend I received news that one of Stephanie and I's friends received a less than positive report about his cancer treatments. He needs more chemo, which in his words, he and his wife "are initially feeling somewhere on the spectrum between disappointed and devastated." Please, pray for my friends Alan and Jan...pray for their spirits to be encouraged and for Alan's body to be healed.

And, doing some research for sermons, I read this article about Kenya's past, present, and future violence...and it's implications for feeding their nation. The personal stories of violence were so heartbreaking...a badly scarred mother whose burns are from a church full of people being set on fire...and the wounds of her son's heart who wants to kill and "burn everything." All because a few men want more money...more power. No words adequately describe how I feel reading the article...I can't imagine living it.

Some days the suffering and pain of the world are all too real. Maybe it's a lack of sleep. Perhaps it's Lent. It could be a reminder of the Passion, or suffering, of Jesus...the Suffering for us that proved God's love for us. The Suffering of God for our sins and the sins of the whole world...

Or maybe God is reminding me today that his children are hurting...

And what am I going to do to help?

Maybe it's all of that.