I started re-evaluating the cliche “God doesnʼt give you any more than you can handle” after my 6 year-old granddaughter, Lexi, was diagnosed with leukemia just days before my daughter, Laura, was scheduled for gall bladder surgery. I was already in St. Louis to watch my two grandsons and my first reaction, after feeling like I had been kicked in the stomach, was, “There’s no way we can do this!” Reality was, someone needed to watch the boys, someone needed to take care of Laura, and someone needed to stay with Lexi at Childrenʼs Hospital. That required a minimum of three people; my son-in-law, Brian, and I only numbered two. Within days, my son David’s family came to St Louis, picked up the boys, and took them to the Quad Cities where they hosted “cousin camp” with the my other daughter Alisa Carslake and her family. I took care of Laura; Brian stayed with Lexi.
This new wrinkle in life led Laura, Brian, and I to a discussion of the God we worship who stands with us and gives us strength when we truly need it; not a God who chooses certain people to torment. As we enter the Advent season, I keep reflecting on this strength “that passes all understanding.” The Christmas season brings “peace on earth good will to all men;” the strength of Christ is with us 365 days each year. With others, we have the ability and strength to make life work.
This same quality sets our church apart from other organizations, work places, country clubs, schools, service clubs. It is also what makes going to church different than finding “peace” on a mountain or watching a sunset. We are brought together by our belief in the miracle of a baby born in a manger on Christmas Day. We teach our kids, enjoy fun activities, perform service projects, eat together, and love each other even when we mess up. We draw strength when we desperately need it.
This “peace” is not transitory, but rather, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians (3:15-21), it is “according to God's eternal purpose which God has realized in Jesus Christ [that] every family…may be strengthened with might through God's spirit...and by the power at work within us...know the love of Christ ...and be filled with the fullness of God.”
This “peace” is not transitory, but rather, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians (3:15-21), it is “according to God's eternal purpose which God has realized in Jesus Christ [that] every family…may be strengthened with might through God's spirit...and by the power at work within us...know the love of Christ ...and be filled with the fullness of God.”
My family also discussed this phenomena when my husband, Steve, died of leukemia several years ago. Our son eulogized his father by noting, “Most people know how to live. Few people know how to die. My dad knew how to do both.” Steveʼs strength derived from that undefinable power generated by both our immediate family and our church.
Now, I, once again, find myself relying on this support community. It is much more than our wonderful pastors and staff (although if you hang around them, you will certainly find a spirit and unity that gives you a small glimpse into what “it” is). This spirit and unity permeates our entire congregation and transforms into this power to face whatever hand life deals. As I celebrate the Advent season, I am thankful that my faith path, which leads to and beyond a baby in a manger and which sustains me with both the “peace and strength that passes all understanding,” is in this wonderful place called St Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa.
Now, I, once again, find myself relying on this support community. It is much more than our wonderful pastors and staff (although if you hang around them, you will certainly find a spirit and unity that gives you a small glimpse into what “it” is). This spirit and unity permeates our entire congregation and transforms into this power to face whatever hand life deals. As I celebrate the Advent season, I am thankful that my faith path, which leads to and beyond a baby in a manger and which sustains me with both the “peace and strength that passes all understanding,” is in this wonderful place called St Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa.
Phyllis Ahlstrand is a retired English department chair and teacher at Rock Island High School.
