Beauty in Battles

I'm sitting in my Dad's home office. The boys are at my feet, playing with paper clips. I'm letting them. (I'll keep one eye on them to make sure they don't eat them.) Miles could make paper clip chains for hours. I'm all for anything that occupies him for longer than one minute.

It's a busy Thanksgiving week for us, which is turning into a short blogcation for me. Ryan is in North Carolina for work, and I have a funeral to go to here in my home town. A life-long friend of mine lost her dad to cancer this week.

It will be a sad day, mixed with the joy of seeing faces that have known mine all these years. My lovely friends and their families. People that know my history and I theirs. I love home. Even if our hard times are heavier for all the memories we share.

I want to hug my grieving friend, the one that used to share a silly private language with me. The one who has always been a forty-year-old, trapped in a young woman's body, so responsible and goal-minded. The one who graciously gave up and allowed me to win when we fought over a boy. The one who has always shown up to events through the years since high school, eager to keep in touch with her childhood friends.

She is lovely.

This family has endured a long battle with cancer. Now my friend's Dad has graciously given up that battle and allowed cancer to win. A sweet mercy arrived and brought him relief. Which makes his family relieved for him, but left to continue a battle with grief.

I pray they find comfort in the familiar faces of people that love them like crazy today.

It seems everywhere I turn in the last week or two there's a story of a battle, a difficult time in the lives of people who are struggling to remain strong and faithful.

Every once and awhile it seems like there's some sort of epidemic of hard times. It seems it comes in waves. But the reality is that those times are always there. People are struggling every day on this fallen earth. When all is quiet and there has been no bad news heard, it doesn't mean it's not there for someone, somewhere.

The beauty of Thanksgiving is what it speaks about the strength of the human spirit. That despite all of our trials, we can see through eyes of grace, finding beauty in our lives. There's a lot of beauty right there, even in the midst of battles. It's the way the light bounces off the water. Or the sound of birds chatting and chirping in the crisp morning air. It's two boys making paper clip chains at my feet, giggling as they toss them around. It's in life-long friendships and loving families. It's somewhere, always. We just need to turn from our battles and take a good look to see it.

Today I see that beauty and I'm thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to you.