Blues turn to pinks and greys as we arrive home at dusk to four brave soldiers. The Fearless Foursome, courageously holding down the fort. Waiting the seasoned warriors’ return. Valiantly. And awaiting the report from the front lines. Ready to move into position upon the signal. Ready to pull things together to make the plan work. Whatever it took.

Ready.

It was a day of the unexpected. The unplanned, uninvited kind of unexpected. And thank the Good Lord we don’t know what lies ahead.

Our hearts would fail us.

We’re not always ready for surprises. And sometimes we just want to avoid them. We want to stop and lie face to the ground. Just because we can. Because we think we have to. Because it’s too hard.

Life is hard.

In the real world, where the big people work and play. We whom call ourselves adults. Here, it is our job to just keep going. We do this. Because we have to. We.have.to. That’s the way it’s meant to be. And we make ourselves move. Forward, step by careful step. Even if it hurts. Even if it’s hard. Even if it is so very hard. Because we’re the strong ones. The wise ones. We’re the adults. And adults are supposed to be responsible. Mature. Capable. Able to look after things. And capable of keeping things moving along. Because inwardly we intuit that moving is progress. And progress is good. At least that’s what it appears to be. On the surface.

Or so we’ve been told.

Do you remember what it was like to be five years old? Foot-loose and fancy-free? Remember when you were able to put your tiny shoe down and stomp it real hard? And say ‘no’ just because? Remember when you could lay on the floor kicking and screaming? Crying simply because it was your party and you could cry if you want to?
Remember what it felt like to be someone else’s responsibility? Back when we were untamed? Uninhibited? Living in the make-believe world of childhood?

A place of seemingly limitless opportunity.

And even as adults, sometimes we want to do this. Let it all go. For freedom’s sake. We want the liberty that accompanies release of responsibility. That sets us free from obligation. From the chains of duty and commitment. It just seems greener on the flip side, that side that lies directly opposite of adulthood.

Because life is hard.

And someone has to hold it all together.

But then again. There is a reason we hold. We are called to uphold. There’s a reason. It’s because we know. WE KNOW: that to hold is to embrace meaning. To have a higher purpose. To deliberately choose something even though it be hard. Because we can do hard things. Through Him. By Him. And for Him.

We can.
And when we do, when we embrace life and all its glory. It’s trials and painful difficulties- and we lean in hard to that which pushes us the most. And we move into the pain. Into the turmoil. And we don’t recoil. It is then that we are freed from those obligations that enslave us. That we are released from our chains. It is then that we are given wings to fly.

Given wings that hold us as we soar.

Isaiah 41: 30-31

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.  But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”