Lead, Kindly Light

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes standing alone at the ocean's edge at dusk, contemplating the path ahead. The landscape was very quiet, very cold, and very blue. The darkness was deepening quickly, and as I drank in the scene the words of a hymn rose up immediately in my mind as though they were painted upon the canvas laid before me.

"Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom.
 Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home. 
 Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see
The distant scene, one step enough for me."

As I sang them, tears streamed down my face, for grit and gratitude, fear and faith. We're in a holding pattern. Surgery is tentatively rescheduled for February 2nd, but we've decided to wait here in Boston while she recovers and they want to see her next week to check the progress on her lungs. I have been so blessed by the kindness of friends here in Southern Massachusetts, thankful to have a wonderful place to stay where we feel loved and wanted. I miss my family so much and I don't know how soon things will work out, but for now we're just going forward in faith. Thank you for your prayers.

"So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since and lost a while!"
                                                                        -poem by John Henry Newman