Dear SUM Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
It was the same morning.
I woke my older child, who is in middle school, and helped them get ready for school. At this age, they manage the morning routine well. My part is mostly to offer a few reminders. That morning, they said it was cold and asked if I could give them a ride to school.
“Really? It doesn’t seem that cold to me. When do you feel the cold the most?”
The bike ride to school has plenty of downhill stretches, they explained, so it isn’t too strenuous. But the wind makes it quite cold. We kept talking on the way to school, about preparing for winter and what kind of jacket to wear.
Back home, I woke my younger child for school. They manage the morning routine well, too. We ate breakfast, talked, and had some warm water with honey. As they put on their backpack and were about to leave, I asked,
“Didn’t you say you wanted to ride your bike to school today?”
They smiled broadly, delighted that I remembered.
“Then why were you going to take the school bus? Let’s go downstairs, get your helmet and gloves on, and get you ready to ride.”
They looked so happy as they eagerly got ready. I took a picture as they set off.
On the same morning, for one child it was too cold to ride comfortably. For the other, it was the eagerly awaited day to ride a bike to school. Of course, the time of morning and the circumstances were different. Even within one family, the same day can meet us in such different ways.
What kind of day are you having?
Sometimes I, too, let a moment pass without asking. Sometimes I let a moment go without remembering. I love my children, but my own limitations mean that I sometimes fail to hear, understand, or remember what they experience, think, and feel. Sometimes this happens even when a child has expressed themselves clearly. Then I may respond, “You could have told me more clearly,” concealing my own weakness behind those words.
I try to be a good father, but I know how often I miss opportunities to ask a little more, listen, remember, and respond. Even living with the children I love, I do not know everything about their days.
I know that God always listens, even to our faintest groans. God knows our thoughts: things that pass briefly through our minds, and things we hold in our hearts and have not been able to share with anyone. The psalmist speaks of God knowing our paths, our thoughts, and even our words before we speak them (Psalm 139:1–4). At times, being known so fully by God feels uncomfortable. Yet I am grateful, and I can lean on God.
As I grow older, there are times when my circumstances make it difficult to share everything within me. I am learning that the burdens a person carries can grow heavier over time. Even those close to us may have stories they have not yet been able to tell.
At such times, as I read about the struggles, pain, wounds, and restoration experienced by people in Scripture, I recognize something of myself: “I am not the only one.” I hold on to the hope that the God at work in their lives is alive and at work today in my life, our family, and our church community. This is especially true when life feels cold and aching, whether for a day, a week, a month, or a year.
That same God also knows the day of the person beside me. The comfort of knowing that God understands what I have not been able to share reminds me that the people around me have stories I do not fully know either.
Here at SUM, we are considering the ministry ahead together. Even as we discuss what we will do together, each of us is experiencing the day differently. We do not fully understand one another, but I hope that, relying on the God who knows us all, we can ask a little more, listen, and remember what we have heard.
When someone remembers something we shared and asks, “How did that turn out?” an earlier conversation may lead to another. Whatever kind of day you are having, I pray that the God who hears even our faintest groans will be with you, and that here at SUM we can share the stories of our days with one another.
Grace and peace,
Pastor DH
Simsbury United Methodist Church
sumct.org | pastordh@sumct.org