Distant Thunder

I'm in the midst of a storm,

though safe on the porch

That distant thunder,

cracks of LiGhTnInG...

won't touch me

personally

Not even the

B     nc      g

   ou     in

Hail

Will hurt

ME

But it hurts you,

Your thunderstorm

So personal

So unavoidable

You have no porch

there is no safety, YOU

are at their mercy (asifthereweresuchathingwheretheycomefrom)

You've done your part,

prepared for the storm,

ensured the safety -

of all in your charge

Yet it's never

ENOUGH

The storm pursues,

relentlessly

And absolutely

WILL NOT STOP

I can't stop it, either

though I long to,

and I'm in it

by choice

So I hold your hand, and

tuck you close,

and wait

WITH you.

It's what friends do.

As I sat on my porch watching a wondrous display of God's power, and praying the amazingly powerful storm helps the fires north and south of us here in Colorado, I couldn't help but think of two friends, each caught in their own storm. I'm helpless to fix anything, but I am there by their sides. Sometimes that's all you can do.

Forgiveness: Red Balloon Day

This post, unlike what I told you I was planning to write on Sunday night, is NOT random. It happened in the last two days and it's huge. I've been wanting to write about “Red Balloon Day” for a long time, THAT idea is in my jotbook, but to actually celebrate THE most needed red balloon of my life, is even bigger. I'm thinking you need some context.

There's a French short film called

SEE RANK The Red Balloon (1956) Le ballon rouge (original title)

about a lonely little boy who is followed around the city by a red balloon. It becomes his friend, they have adventures, and in the glorious end to the movie, I see a lot of symbolism.

More context: Back in the late 80s before the was the internet everywhere, there were some ways to connect online, so friends of mine and I participated in a forum abbreviated RATS. Rec.arts.tv.soaps. We all watched “As the World Turns.” In fact, I watched ATWT for 17 years but have since reformed...not that it was easy. It was like leaving a blogging community ~ friends made online that I never would have met before and we didn't just discuss the show because c'mon, it was a SOAP, but we got way into real life, too.

So speaking of real life. There was a a participant who was going through some tough times, and we were all encouraging him to forgive and just let it go. I suggested calling it, “Red Balloon Day” and he actually knew what movie I was talking about so we declared a day, and we all “let our balloons” ceremoniously into the air, letting go of past hurts, bad relationships, bad habits, you name it. We had quite the celebration and bonding encouraging each other over this.

I've known for quite a while that there was a grudge, a non-forgiveness I'd been holding onto for a long time. 3 years. But you might have noticed I'm a bit stubborn, and no amount of good Christian friends preaching forgiveness was going to deter me from my grudge. I'm not usually like that – stubborn yes, unforgiving, no.

Then a dear friend posted the parable of the unforgiving servant (found in Matthew 18:35) on her fb page...and stirred my thoughts.

You might recall it's Matthew I'm teaching on Thursdays this year...so it's yesterday morning that I come to that passage...and it clicks. Forgive. FORGIVE. We have been forgiven much, forgive others. And bawling my eyes out, I sent my balloon, with the company name, and the name of my former boss, up into the air for my own unexpected Red Balloon Day. It feels good.

~ Tina

P.S For the full story of why this was necessary, you could read “Abrupt U-Turn”