Ginny L. Yttrup | Words for Life

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13
In the circular way God often leads, I recently found myself back in the wilderness, tracing the path of Hagar. I’ve walked with God since childhood and have heard and read of Hagar’s plight dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Yet, I sensed God asking...

At 5:02 AM an alert, set to the Stress tone, sounded in my mind. Heart racing, breaths coming in shallow bursts, a long list of impossible to-dos running through my mind, I greeted the day. I threw back the covers and put feet to the floor of my bedroom...

I’m vaguely aware of my dog’s paw, small and gentle, on my shoulder. His tap, tap, tapping pulls me from the fog of slumber.
“No,” I mumble, certain day has not yet broken night.
As I roll away from my persistent pup, a knife stabs at the base of my neck and thousands of needles drill into my right shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers. I moan, though not audibly. Instead the moan rises within. Echoes within. Resides within. READ...

I opened the mailbox and pulled out a stack of envelopes. As I thumbed through them before making the short walk back to the house, I saw it. The return address. And I knew.
The contents of the small envelope would wound me.
Deeply.