Whoa!  What a day we are having in Tucson.  The Wind blew in during the night.  And I mean BLEW.  It's terribly windy, chilly, uncomfortable.

Of course, that's what I said even from inside my cozy house.

Yep, it's just another reminder of how lucky I am, yes, how hard I have worked to have that perspective, how privileged I am.

Right now California is under siege from the winds and ensuing fires.  Texas has tornados moving across it.  The East Coast is bracing for a snowy winter blast.  The war in Israel and Palestine wears on.  The war in Ukraine wears on.  There was a terrible accident on I-10 just across the border in New Mexico.

I don't give thanks that my life isn't as bad as others.  I find that comparison rather.... wrong.

I give thanks for the life I have and ask God to guide me to use my life to help others while appreciating what I have, and how I am.  I have my days and times when my battles are overwhelming too.  And it doesn't matter if they are easier or harder than the challenges someone else is facing.  They're mine, they're hard.  

Comparing ourselves to others to make ourselves feel better (or worse) isn't healthy.  We have to learn to deal with what we have to deal with.  And yet, as Christians, still reach out, still live our lives in ways that help others.

So, today, on the windy day that is so uncomfortable, when all I want to do is pull the covers up and escape the day... I pray...

I pray that the giving I give has already been helping others.  I pray for peace for people in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, California, Texas, East Coast, along the freeway in New Mexico.  I pray they find the strength to manage what they have to face today.  And I got up, got out of bed, wrote this note, and prayed....

God help us, help me, and help me to help others.
 

Peace in our journeys,

Pastor Steve Melde