“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.”
She comes into my office and I barely notice.
I sit at my desk too numb to even think, nearly hopeless, while my coffee goes cold.
I’m glued to the screen. I scroll through the news feeds and it sickens me. Suicide, genocide, homocide—death and darkness are everywhere.
The world seems to have been forsaken, even by God.
It’s paralyzing. It’s impossible to watch and difficult to turn away.
I pray and grieve and and am jolted awake by her nudge, this cutie with tousled hair who wants to eat breakfast and to read chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
She starts the sausage. We empty the dishwasher. I’m quiet and lost in images from my screen.
I make the coffee and lay out the beef for dinner. I make the bed and fold the laundry and for a brief moment, I really see her. I remember that among this world of death and chaos and prejudice and evil, I hold precious things in my hands.
I can’t bring peace to the Middle East or to the Midwest or even to my own house most days.
But I can do the next thing that blesses the next person in front of me.
I can make the meal, read the chapter, fold the shirt, write the words.
The tasks are so small they’re almost embarrassing.
But all the tiny acts of life and kindness wage war on this present darkness.
I wake up from the numbness of the headlines and look around me.
My neighbor is standing right here in the flesh with a need that I am equipped to meet.
So, I set the table and cut the hydrangeas and with every bite, she looks more and more like her Father.
The Father who loves us, who holds this all in His hands, who ushers in His kingdom of peace with water, Word, bread, and wine—He is here. He is our way to life. He is our only Hope.
He hasn’t forsaken us. He’s right in front of us—in our midst in the humblest of means.
But we miss Him, because He always comes in on a donkey and we’re always looking for a stallion.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
And blessed is he with eyes to see.
well said, Edie. Blessed is He indeed.
Thank you Edie. Our Father, our Almighty Father answered my fears with this precious post of yours. As I began to read I felt as if you were speaking my thoughts, my heartache. “He came in on a donkey and we keep looking for the stallion.” Oh my….
Your words paint the picture of a loving heart. You truly are an amazing artist. As always, I am touched:)
perfectly said. thank you♥
Perfect analogy,,,Your words are beautiful,,your heart even more so!!! Love to you and all your precious “neighbors”. Great gifts!
I needed the reminder that while I cannot stop the world’s problems, I can do God’s work right here, right now — and that is enough. Your words (and actions) bless hearts and refresh souls. Thank you!
This is beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you and amen.
Wonderful post. Especially good as we begin a new school season and start the sometimes tedious cycle of lunches, homework, sports and laundry. From Mother Teresa, “Do small things with great love.” Make a meal, read a chapter, fold the laundry. Yes, a great prescription for a hurting world. The love she means is agape, the good stuff. The stuff that first heals us and then flows through us to help others find healing too. Make a meal, read a chapter, fold the laundry. Blessings to you.
beautifully chosen words, thank you. 🙂
Edie,
Your writing on vocation and the simple daily acts we do for our family is transformative. It is so easy to get caught up in society’s version of what counts as important work. I truly believe that God is using you in a powerful way through your writing. Bless you.
Shari
I needed this today – It motivates me feel less helpless.
You encourage me so.
Edie, if I may say it. I love you. I appreciate your writing and the way it always seems to make me stop. Stop hurrying along in my day and take notice. Of my beautiful family, of this messy life, which always reminds me of my need for Him. So, thank you. May you and your home be blessed and may His face shine upon you!
Thank you SO much! Such sweet encouragement.
Mwahhhh!
Edie…thank you so much. I find myself, more and more, wanting to simplify life and focus on what is really important. I find my frustration comes from those things that I know I keep too close and that interrupt what is really important. I find that focusing on the present and those right by me brings the most happiness…… I wish that for everyone.
Love this Edie! Yes, it is easy to get bogged down by what is happening in the world or our own world but we have a purpose and our focus has to be on Him. 🙂
Edie- Well said. I was paralyzed two days ago.
I can no longer read or watch. The horrors stay imprinted in my mind & heart. I continue to pray & ask for God’s guidance. How can I best serve Him.
I’m focusing on my neighbors who need me now more than ever.
Thank you for sharing-
Amen. Amen. This is beautiful obedience. And it glorifies God more than if we sit paralyzed with guilt. We can lift our hearts to God in thankgiving and intercession at the same time.
absolutely poignant.
Dear Edie,
I have enjoyed reading your blog for yours but have never commented. I find your message today to be so perfect – I needed this reminder that I can do something just by blessing those in my world here and now. Thanks so much!
Thanks Edie, I needed this today. Peace be with you and yours!
Needed this today. The next thing can be so overwhelming.
Beautiful and well said . So glad I found your blog!!!! What a blessing sister, and one day we will meet face to face 🙂 until that day……blessings
Thank you and welcome, Ginger!
🙂
Edie, thank you from my heart; you’ve given me peace today.
Beautifully said. So grateful.
Thank you much.
“because He always comes in on a donkey and we’re always looking for a stallion.”
I will forever remember these words as I try to recognize needs and act on them. love your words Edie.
Thank you, thank you.
Oh, Edie! We all need to hear what you have to say. I too have been numbed by the current events transpirimg since Becoming and really appreciate you drawing me back to my reality with your words. Can’t wait to read your book!
I just saw images of dead Iraqi children, slain because of their faith and my stomach is sick and tears stream down my face as I feel helpless as it seems the world disintegrates before our eyes. Thank you for the reminder that our God has not forsaken this world, our world. Today, I pray for the grace to see Him calling out from the storm, “Peace, be still, it is I.”
naturally like your web site but you have to test the spelling on quite
a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems
and I find it very bothersome to inform the truth however I will definitely
come back again.
Beautiful inspiring words. I must stop and look for the donkey. I needed to hear this and I thank you!
Thank you for this reminder Edie. Bless you.
Thank you, Edie, for your gifts and the fruit you bear for the body of Christ. I deeply appreciate your transparency.
This is just beautiful Edie. So glad to have stumbled across your blog a few years ago. I always am inspired and moved by your words. You are a blessing and such a talent! Thank you to you and to your family for allowing you the time to write your words that touch so many!
Yes, lots of things that consume our attention, like everything you’ve mentioned above and, for me, many things that are going on right here in my hometown.
Thank you for reminding me to look right in front of me, literally. To my son, my husband, my neighbor and serve them. Bless them. Because God is trying to capture my attention with them and I’m missing it. I cannot put a stop to the craziness that I see onscreen and hear through the grapevine every day. But I can serve and bless what God has entrusted me with. And I will. Every day.
It’s uncanny how when I come here, the message is exactly what I need that day, that time. I get chills thinking about it. Thank you for the reminders of how we can change the world by “doing little things with great love” as Mother Teresa said. You are a blessing to all who come here. Keep preaching.
Beautiful and timely…
I love all your blog posts, but this one is extra special. Thanks so much.
Thanks for the inspiring words. I too despair from the news I read each day. Lately, I have been awakening at around 1:30 am and think over events in Israel and the US, my own hometown and even with my adult kids lives. It is too much for one person to take in. God has been showing me, no matter where it is, how bad it is, or how dark it seems, He is there. God is there! I really have to let that soak that in.
Yes!
xoxo
Thank you, I needed that message. It is overwhelming and frightening, but it hasn’t spiraled out of His control. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.
Edie, Your words always inspire. You are always such a gift to me with your word, always so moving and provoking. I thank God for you!
And the ears to hear my savior calling me by name. Amen.
Thank you for your beautiful and encouraging words (again!!:) and for pointing us to our Heavenly Father. ” In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; for I have overcome the world.”( John 16:33)
Thank you for that reminder. My tousled hair girl will be up in a bit and I needed this.
Amen. Thank you. So much.
Only light drives out darkness. xoxo
Often you write the words I need to hear to get up and carry on.
I am grateful for you Edie.
That is exactly what I think sometimes and then I have to remember that the Light is still bright and there is no worldly power that can “hide it under a bushel”. Thank you for this post.
This blog is so appropriate for what we are feeling. Your comments make me think of words attributed to Mother Teresa…”If you can’t feed 100 (or 1,000), feed one.”
I can do that.
Thank you for your comments. They are a lifeline those of us ready to go inward because the news is so brutal every day.
May we each love our neighbor today.
Oh Edie, you said this so perfectly. I to have been glued to the screen, the tv screen, the computer screen, and the phone screen. I can not get the horrible images out of my head. I’ve had the compulsive instinct to grab my child and hold them tight to me for all that is dear. But you are right, God is in every situation. God is there but we are so focused on what is happening to forget to stop and look for Him. Thank for the reminder.
Thank you Edie. This is such an encouragement.
beautifully written, edie
Absolutely beautiful and so well said. Thank you for this truth that is brimming with hope. Totally going to share with my close girl friends.
Thank you Edie. Driving to work this morning, I was thinking this exact same thing. We are made and created in the image of our Heavenly Father. We are his children. And yet it seems everywhere I turn, there is ugliness and death and brutality and addiction and sorrow and on and on. Is this what He envisioned when he was creating this world? Is it because of the fallen state of this world that the natural man/woman in us seems to suffocate the people we are supposed to become – humble, long-suffering, empathetic, kind, etc.? Your words encouraged me today to do the best I can within the walls of my own home because that does matter. And I agree, God has not forsaken us. Thank YOU for your light – much, much needed today.
wow…such profound words! You always articulate so beautifully! How true are the words…
“But we miss Him, because He always comes in on a donkey and we’re always looking for a stallion.”
You inspire me everyday to be a better, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend!
Perfect timing for me to read this. Thank you 🙂
On this very perfect day I read this, I needed this. I was drawn to your sight…don’t know why. God works in mysterious ways. Thank you.
Oh just what I needed to hear! Thank you! P.S. Sometimes He shows up on a stallion too. He’s unpredictable and amazing like that!