[Magdalen] Crucible

[Ginga Wilder]

Jim,
Your loving care of Marcy has changed your life; your sharing your and
Marcy's life journeys with us changes our lives.  Thank you.  Thank God.

Ginga

On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 6:59 PM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Jim, I am so grateful for your sharing.  It helps me prepare for what is
> ahead of us.  There will be a time when Bill and I will be looking at
> illness and separation.  It may not be as immediate and fully in our faces
> as you are experiencing, but the specter is there.  At 83 and 77 we are
> especially aware of what a blessing we have.  You and Marcie are in our
> prayers each day.
> Judy
>
> On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 6:05 PM, Capers Limehouse <
> capers.limehouse at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Lovely. Holding you in light. Capers
> > On Dec 7, 2014, at 3:09 PM, James Handsfield <jhandsfield at icloud.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I had a bit of an epiphany today at church.  I’ve been seeing Lindsay
> > Buehler for spiritual direction - actually both Marcy and I have been
> > seeing her, sometimes together.  During this time with Marcy’s illness,
> > I’ve felt sometimes abandoned, sometimes reassured, but most of the time
> > abandoned.  According to Lindsay, it’s not desolation, which I was afraid
> > it was, but it’s finding I’m in a different room of God’s house, and I
> need
> > to find God there, not where I used to find God.
> > >
> > > My epiphany this morning is that this room is a crucible, and I’m being
> > refined.  Out of necessity caring for Marcy, I’m gradually being rid of a
> > great deal of selfishness, and at the same time finding myself more and
> > more open to the love of those around me, including at St. Bede’s, in my
> > neighborhood, here in the pub, and many other places.  It’s not an easy
> > process, and it often hurts - a lot - both in the pain of change, and
> > perhaps even more seeing what I’d been holding on to and how it made me
> > sometimes distant from those I love.
> > >
> > > I’m grateful that this is a safe place to share such things.
> > >
> > > -----------------
> > > Thinking one can behave their way into heaven is an insult to the very
> > foundation of salvation.
> > >
> > > Jim Handsfield
> > > jhandsfield at att.net
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Judy Fleener, ObJN
> Western Michigan
>