My brother’s stroke set off a tidal wave of panic and chaos back in Florida where he was hospitalized. Yet, the disaster sirens blasted inside me. My family’s tsunami-response has a way of resurrecting and exacerbating hidden, unresolved hurts.
The powerful swell threatened to overtake me and
swallow me up. When considering an emergency visit to Florida, I was more fearful
of the force of family frenzy consuming me than about my brother’s recovery.
One can manage a recovery process. But how does one navigate a family tidal
wave, except to avoid being in its path? I telephoned my brother from afar.
Besides, what good could a visit from me do?
I am not prone to insert myself where I am not invited. A
similar tentativeness crosses over into my coaching business as well. I have avoided
marketing myself as a personal coach because that seems too pushy. A marketing
coach recently reframed self-promotion as, “getting to know me, like me and
trust me.” That sounded inviting instead of invasive. In considering going to
Florida, I needed an invitation to outweigh this familiar chaos that triggered my
anxiety.
Go willingly with the attitude to help bear another’s burden in crisis.
My son and daughter-in-law listened as I shared concern for
my brother. “He cannot form his thoughts into comprehensible sentences. His
finances are a mess. He is a contentious guest at my sister’s house. My sister almost
lost it when she had to send a letter on his behalf because she had no stamps
or envelopes,“ I lamented.
Daughter-in-law tentatively spoke up, “When I am overwhelmed,”
she said, “sometimes I just want someone to swoop in and take care of it for
me, even when it’s hard for me to ask for help.” Hearing that, I had my reason
to jump back into the surge. Perhaps, my invitation was that I could be of help.
Working together enhances the healing
process.
In Florida, my siblings and I locked arms together on our
brother’s behalf. Waters were turbulent but we rode the waves. We searched, sorted,
telephoned, documented, prioritized, and filed all the issues into categories.
And we rebuked, listened, affirmed, accepted, apologized and laughed so hard we
couldn’t breathe. Amidst the debris we discovered traces of compassion. I
thought it was just my brother who needed healing after his stroke. In the
midst of working together, I caught a glimpse of how God was already at work in
each one of us.
Willpower exhausts itself but trusting
in
God’s great love for us emboldens us
to face adversity with sustaining hope
and faith.
Occasionally I would be pulled under by the strength of the
current but could bob back up to the surface…exhausted. Overcome by the details of disaster, I
doubted family myself, and the power of God. My friends’ invitation to dinner
offered welcome respite from swimming against the current. The instant we were
seated at the restaurant table my fear and frustration gushed out and onto my
friends. They listened. When my grumbling
gush ran out of steam, one friend responded, “I will pray for you.” His words
secured the dam and contained the waters.
Words from the biblical apostle James wafted past me, “But
when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is
like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” My friend had
intervened to ask and believe on my behalf. I was grateful.
My thoughts shifted direction like a repentant thief caught
red-handed. Clarifying words from Dr. Henry Cloud challenged me, “Repentance,” writes
Cloud, “is the change involved when we face the truth about ourselves.” Maybe
this journey was not about willful and defensive maneuvers against tidal waves
but about engaging trust when disaster strikes.
In Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning writes, “In the midst of
tragic events that leave us bereft of understanding, trust does not demand
explanations but turns to the One who promised, ‘I will not leave you orphans.’
(John 14:18) Manning’s simple
prayer appeals to my lack of trust, “Jesus, by your grace I grow still for a
moment and I hear you say, ‘Courage? It’s me! Don’t be afraid’. I place my
trust in your presence and your love. Thank you.”
The more we are healed, the more we can be
genuinely generous with others.
My family has known me to insulate myself with distance and resistance.
Fear and self-protection wanted to hold me back. But my call to grow was for the
real me—the swimmer—to show up…with family. God has honored my yielding to this
intentional process of healing over the past couple of years. As my swimming
has grown stronger, I can jump into an ocean of conflict and not sink. So now my
sister calls more often; she trusts that I won’t judge her. And my brother acknowledged
my apology. He expressed his response with thoughtful acceptance, “I...I know…I
have another…uh…a second chance.”
What a tsunami threatened to destroy, God intended to heal. He
loves me and my family that much. When I was hell-bent on dodging any family
business, God tossed me right into the middle of it. After all, my family business
IS God’s business. And I’m absolutely blown out of the water that He would entrust
me with His business…to turn around and help others grow.
Am I the only one with family tidal waves?
4 comments:
No, you're not the only one, Julie. Thank you for being willing to share your experiences, both the difficulties and the lessons and growth. You make me feel more brave about trusting God when facing my own family challenges.
You are more brave because of my experiences? Thanks for letting me know. And how courageous of you to be trusting God--instead of getting swamped-- during those family challenges! Isn't it interesting to think that trust is equated to bravery?
Wow. How unexpected and wonderful how your family could grow from this trial! I'm encouraged by this... by your trust and perseverance...by His faithfulness.
Thank you!
Sometimes, I fail to notice His faithfulness...until I have first persevered and trusted. I don't know why taking those first few steps is so daunting. But when I have let my guard down--or set aside my self-protection--I begin to notice more of God's faithfulness and love.
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