Although feeling lost and overwhelmed is normal and natural in my vocation as spouse and parent, I find that I rebel against it at every turn. I never just let the river flow, let this moment pass to the next. I build my dams, engage in fruitless work, and I plow through my day. It is very difficult for me to be present.
Present means that I have put away my feelings of failure, that I have placed my fears on a shelf, that I stand without a mask, and I look into the eyes of the oncoming storm. Present means that I put away the I and the Me and address the You as you deserve.
God is in the You. My children are in the You. My husband is in the You. My friends are in the You. What am I afraid of? Failing them. I forget that God is with me. By virtue of my Baptism, I am His, and He sanctifies even my failures. I am His.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings. Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord comforts His people, He redeems Jerusalem. The Lord had bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 52: 7-10
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