Unlike a pack animal, humans are not made to be beasts of burden and yet, sometimes we act as though we are. Life is hard, but the choices we make can make our lives harder or easier.

  Keeping Our Life Light 

I used to have a neighbor who was more than a good neighbor, she became a good  friend. 

Her two story house looked down onto our backyard where she observed the comings and goings of our household. 

At the time, I was a busy mama raising three sons, managing their comings and goings and trying to remember to take care of myself. 

One day, my neighbor came to my door and introduced herself as Diane. She invited me over for a cup of coffee and assured me that I could keep an eye on my sons as they played in our backyard because I’d see and hear them from her kitchen. So I followed her around the corner to her house.

Indeed, as we talked, I could keep an eye on my sons and eye on Diane too. During that first visit together, I learned that Diane had a great sense of humor, a contagious laugh,  a solid faith and multiple sclerosis. She did not pity herself because of her chronic and progressive illness. She only made mention of it so that I would know that although she wanted to become friends with me, her energy was limited. 

From that day forward and until the day she moved away, we were friends. 

My sons loved walking around the corner to visit Diane all by themselves. They’d color and draw pictures for her to put up on her refrigerator, they’d help her pull weeds in her yard, or sit in her kitchen for a glass of lemonade and a cookie.

I too had the occasion to visit her and with a little encouragement, I’d unburden myself by sharing the concerns I carried; mainly the small and big worries surrounding everything and anything about my growing sons. 

Diane was a good listener and before we’d end our time together she always asked, “Can I pray for you?” I never refused her offer. 

When she prayed, I always felt as though she was pouring warm silky water over my heart. Leaving her house, I knew I was stronger and more confident in my abilities to be a mom to my three sons than when I’d first arrived at Diane’s house. Though Diane’s energy may have been limited, I learned that her source for energy was not. 

The day she moved away to be closer to her daughter was a sad day, but having known her as my neighbor and friend she’d given me a better knowledge of the One whom she relied upon for moving through life with an unforced rhythm of ease. Diane knew the One whom she could lay any and all of her burdens. 

Why bother to lighten our load? We were not created to be beasts of burden, so we do not need to act like one. We can unload any and all our cares on the One who knows and who cares.