sad moments

Does it make you sad?

When you hear that someone you have known since 6th grade is getting a divorce after being married just long enough to have a child?

When you see someone schmooze good people for their own political agenda?

When you watch the news and it is filled with nothing but bad (awful, really) news?

These are things that have made me sad. But, it's all what you do with it, how you look at it, and what you focus on.

It's okay to be sad and then let the moment pass. I'm learning to learn from those moments and not dwell on them. Yeah, that is still a daily lesson for me, but that saying-- life is fleeting-- it's true. What happens daily can feel so permanent, but it's really only a moment. We're all really just a moment... It may seem impossible to get through, things that are truly awful happen every day, but it is not an eternity, it is only a day. What we do for others, what we lift up in prayer, where we give our time, who we love, how we love, where our faith is placed-- those are the things that will outlast all the "yuck"-- all the things that can make you sad. We are all human, we make mistakes, we get sad, we get angry, we say and do things in response from our human-ness and are completely imperfect. That is what grace is for... and, so the sad moments need only be just that... moments.

A scripture from my quiet time today:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:9-12