Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Family

Covenantal Cleanup Crew, Cleanup on Aisle 3

by Jeff Miller

In a few weeks, Tim Skaar is going to lead a Sunday School series on Covenantal Theology. I’m looking forward to it. In the meantime, however, there are a lot of examples of how covenantal lifestyle is being fleshed out here at RPC. Whatever differences we may have as individuals are set aside when times of joy or pain come in our midst and it’s a beautiful thing.

Following is a post that Dana put on her blog which you should feel free to visit anytime.

From Dana:

I’ve tried for about 10 minutes to give this post a nice, tidy beginning point. A point to spring off of so that everything following it made sense. It’s not happening because it has not been neat and tidy kind of week.

Dear friends of ours are going through unspeakable pain right now. Another friend had to put her Dad in the hospital and is waiting to hear what’s going on. We had to put Lily, Gracen’s silky terrier, to sleep yesterday.

I’ve seen emotions in my child that I haven’t seen in a long time. She has been extremely sad, of course, and is already missing Lily. Throwing sticks and rocks in the backyard was anger release for a while. She wondered “why couldn’t Lily just get better.” Through all of this, I had no idea how to really help her. I have no idea how to really help my friends either.

There have been glimmers, those bits that God gives when you just really don’t know which way to look let alone what you are looking for. And I am thankful that Gracen has seen those glimmers too. She has seen a glimpse of God’s people taking care of each other.

As we prepared to visit our friends to offer condolences, my first thought was to find somewhere for Gracen to go. Surely, she didn’t need to go. “I love them too” was her response. She is part of this covenant family, felt pain, and wanted to be there. She saw honest, raw emotions and saw mercy and love being poured out. She learned.

When we realized that Lily would have to go to the vet yesterday, Gracen didn’t want to go. She had a haven, friends who welcomed her into their day without question and loved her. On my way home from the vet’s office, I made a call to the church. It seemed natural to let our covenant family know what was going on.

Throughout the evening, there were phone calls, ecards, visits all just letting Gracen know that they loved her and were thinking of her. Despite their own pain and busyness, a group of believers took time to let a little girl know that they were thinking of her, praying for her, hurting with her. She learned.

Before she went to bed, she brought her Bible to us asking for help finding a verse that Pastor Tim had shared with her, Psalm 36:6:

“Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgements are like the great deep: Man and beast you save, O Lord.”

She marked it. She was comforted and she learned from God through His people.

Family

Remembering 9/11

by Prathima Ryali-Hancock

A lot of people are going to be asking themselves today where they were 5 years ago. I remember it vividly. What I think about most when I think of the latter months of 2001 is the tumultuous season in my life that God taught me to cling to him in desperation, and then to look to him for peace.

It started with my father’s heart attack in August while he was in India. That was the first time I’d ever experienced a life-or-death situation with a parent, and I struggled with the long-distance medical procedures being performed. While everyone thinks of Indians as doctors, the care over there is not always the best. Thankfully both of my sisters are doctors and I could rely on their expertise.

9/11 threw us all into seeking answers about why, and in my own life, my father had to wait additional time before coming back to the States. I was really grateful to see him, although he was very weak.

As we struggled in answering the question of “why” during October and November, I entered my own private Hell when my marriage broke into a million little pieces. I still remember that time with pain because I was so numb with shock, grief, and disbelief. I see it through a haze, almost. The only bright side to it all was God’s guidance in leading me through the pit. He was my constant companion and He placed friends in my path when I needed them the most. I went through a crash course in clinging to Christ and learning by His grace the beginning stages of forgiveness. As the country struggled with forgiveness and justice on a larger scale, I took it step by step, moment by moment and learned to trust implicitly what is in Psalm 46:10-11: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Do I remember that day? Of course I do. As with so many things, though, I think of that day more in the context of a season in my life. Yes, one day (by itself) can have events that trigger life changes. For me, it’s more about what happens before and after those days that define us and how we fit into God’s tapestry.