Picking Up the Pieces

I got another crisis phone call today. I wonder sometimes what it is that makes me the person to call in the middle of personal crisis... When I was in high school I remember asking the girl who was my Young Life leader and mentor if I had some sort of magnet on me that just attracted people with messy lives. I'll never forget what she said. She didn't even pause for a second. "Yes! A God magnet!" I think I told her that God could take his magnet back, I didn't want it. I still feel like that sometimes.

Mostly, though, I feel priviledged that my friends feel safe enough to call me in the midst of the chaos of their lives. I sometimes tire of what feels like picking up shattered pieces of lives - of always being called after the bad decision, or the self-destructive behaviour, but mostly I'm glad they called. I'm grateful, too, for a group of friends who provide MY support system. They usually know the people who are calling me in crisis, and I am able (with the permission of the person in crisis) to pass on the situation quickly, to get feedback on my response, to allow others to step in and form community around the person in crisis, and most importantly, to mobilize prayer - both for me as I help these people pick up the pieces of their lives, but more importantly for the person whose life is so filled with chaos and pain.

If you think of it in the next days, pray for a friend of mine. Her mother is dying of cancer, and will probably not live even to Christmas. She is alternately estranged and close to her mom. There are messy, abusive family dynamics that complicate things. Her tendency is towards self-destructive behaviour in the midst of her pain. I don't even know what to tell you to pray, but pray for her, and for her mom, and for me, and our community of friends as we hold and support her, and as we respond to her pain.