I sat with a family in a hospital waiting room today while a woman had surgery on her back.  At one point in the afternoon I walked outside to a pond in front of the building.  A gaggle of ducks scurried over to me in hopes of finding food, but all I had was a camera.  Then a security guard came over to talk to me.  In a post 9/11 world, taking pictures of ducks in front of a hospital apparently marks you as a potential terrorist.  He did not take my camera.  But it was surreal.

Later in the day, news from the surgeon was good and bad.  It was hard to hear.  There were lots of tears.  I prayed for them all through my tears, and I held onto a string of prayer beads.  Afterward, I thought about a quote from Frederick Buechner, “Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless.”  So what does that say about God, since God is love?  Pain and suffering make you wonder what God can and cannot do.

My ministry today was mainly praying through tears.  I trust that God puts all of our tears in his bottle. (Ps 56.8)