Our contributor today has always had a gift for teaching, which she does now through her writing. We both started our blogs at about the same time, and today I am fortunate enough to call her one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Stick around and you’ll certainly see why she’s so easy to love…
INVINCIBLE SUMMER
by Michelle
“In the midst of winter, I finally learned
there was in me an invincible summer.”
~Albert Camus
The officer called in the early evening. I was making dinner, wondering where the next step down this unexpectedly dark path would take us. When the phone rang, I panicked. Phat had just stepped out, leaving me to answer. I rushed to the office to have some privacy, hoping to spare the younger ones anymore distress and praying a quick prayer for help. Visibly shaking, I answered the phone.
We were to turn our son in the next morning. If not, they would arrest him at school. This way we could avoid any added humiliation.
I assured the officer we would have him there on time.
I felt I was going to crumble. Right there. In the office. It was time to fall apart.
But instead, something deep inside steadied, enabling me to think.
Immediately I phoned our lawyer. No. There was nothing she could do. We were to turn him in. Be sure and be respectful and explain to the officer our son would not be speaking without his lawyer. That was all.
Earlier that week she had told us we needed to get ourselves ready for the hardest journey of our lives. Now, she told us, the path we thought we were headed down had drastically changed.
“The path you thought you were on has ended.”
So this was the next step.
I’ve learned it’s best to take life one day at a time. Sometimes we do well to keep going hour by hour. Other times, all we can do is live in the moment, calling out to our God, the One who sees the next step clearly.
The soul searching had been done. The repentance had come quickly. The forgiveness was graciously bestowed. Now we must live with the consequences and we had no illusions it would be easy.
An unexpected winter had stormed into our hopeful spring, leaving us desperate for covering. The darkness made it difficult to see each step along the path. But we were not defeated. We had one another and we knew our God was able to do exceedingly, abudantly beyond anything we could ever ask or think.
We held on tight.
And we’re still holding on.
