Bigger shoulders...

Yesterday, I paused with a twinge of guilt as I scribbled down prayers on my yellow legal pad. I faltered, worrying that I should pepper my letter to God with enough praises to offset my requests. Whenever the word 'should' hangs over me like a cloud, I know I need to stop and consider.  So I asked myself, 'What does God say about your needs?'  and recalled the verse 'cast your cares upon him for he cares for you.' 

There are points in life when burdens are so heavy and so many, it seems like too much effort to take a breath, let alone carry something. In the past I have pictured myself being held by Jesus, arms about his neck only because of the strength he gives me to hold them there. Yesterday, while contemplating laying my burdens down, I imagined being lifted up like a little child, my entire weight supported by bigger shoulders.  From great height I looked out at the view and had a perspective I had never seen, a distant horizon I didn't know existed.

Today we grieve the loss of John's coworker and her 9-year-old son, both killed in a car accident, leaving behind her thirteen-year-old daughter.  I am looking hard at a distant blurry skyline where the earth and the clouds meet in a confusion my eyes cannot differentiate, but I am on shoulders.