In our recently reconfigured household the only quiet time is when everyone else is sleeping.
At four or five each morning, I turn the lights on, sit down at my computer and clearly look at the work of the last day and what's ahead. Even the animals are too sleepy to distract.
By the time the sun comes up, I've got my battle plan in place.
Thus it isn't darkest before the dawn and ,while we're at it, God doesn't close doors to open windows. There doesn't have to be a morning after, sometimes the night can hold on forever. Tomorrow may not be a better day, there's a pretty good chance it will be worse.
In fact, if you're in the position of giving advice to a friend going through a tough time and can only come up with cliches, don't bother.
Yes, you can bet your bottom dollar the sun will come up tomorrow, but there's no guarentee the scene it illuminates will be any better than the one yesterday.
Listen. Agree that life temporarily sucks. Offer solutions. Tell bad jokes. Laugh at their worse jokes. Love them when they aren't feeling lovable.
We sat in Bobby's kitchen for hours yesterday watching him prepare a killer meal, laughing, drinking, talking about everything but the challenges in front of us.
It was a cliche-free, worry-free zone and one of the best times ever -- smack in the middle of one of the worst.
The one cliche that works ... that's what friends are for.



Copyright 2004 Judi Griggs