Floating mid-way

For Joey's birthday, five helium balloons - brightly-colored stars - sparkled in the light and seemed to spread good-cheer all about the room. Once fresh, over time they began to leak helium and sagged, floating mid-way from floor to ceiling. Now, a quick blast with the hairdryer excites the molecules enough to perk up the balloons and return them, if only momentarily, to their plump and joy-filled state.

But, is it not so for us, friend? There are many times that I feel hopeful and excited, only to allow the world's worries to form tangible weights in my life. Most often, it is those most dear or those whom we hold in the highest esteem that deeply scar us. Perhaps a comment or lack of love? Perhaps a broken relationship or negative criticism? Perhaps a wound covered over that never healed? The cause can be easy to pinpoint when we really stop and think. The worst part is the amalgamation of events, completely unrelated, that creates a painful void: one first to affirm the doubt you feel in yourself.

Yes, friend, we can find some hairdryer-fix that momentarily covers the limp in our gait. But, how much more powerful would it be for us to fill the void with God's presence? Pain's slow simmer, when placed into God's hands, can yield a more radiant, more lasting, and more fulfilling hope and joy than we have ever known. Will you put your doubts and desperations before God? And, in doing so, let the spark of True Light bring greater meaning to how you live, even when your spirit sags mid-way from floor to ceiling, too.