steady in the struggles .....
My son is having a hard day and I want to be there with him but I can't because we are separated by a large body of water called the Pacific Ocean and we remain connected only over FaceTime. I hang up my phone and feel the weight. Another son struggles over the homework load of high school and his first year in "outside school". The struggle to belong and be known is exhausting. My daughter tears up as she works through life questions, also asking tough questions on identity, and why life sometimes doesn't work out the way we would like. My youngest curls up on the couch and it takes great patience to wait for him to tell us what he is thinking. He is burdened by all the hard things that are happening, friends who are hurting, the Syrian refugee crisis, and refugees in our city. How a youngest child learns to carry such heavy burdens continues to surprise me. All this happens within a week and by Friday, my heart is tired. Oh, so tired. I can...