Sinking

For the last few weeks we have been planning to host the Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt at our house. The only real preparation required on my part is a mowed lawn and some poop scooping in the morning before the children arrive. Easy, right?

Well, Saturday afternoon K came barreling in the back door, frantically expressing her concern for the safety of our kitties.

"I am scared they are going to fall into the hole, Mama!" she cried.

K is extremely safety conscious and protective when it comes to our pets, so I was not overly concerned. I went out into the yard with her to assure her this 'hole' was not a big deal.

You can imagine my shock when I saw the hole in question--the opening was only about 4 feet wide, but as I peered in I could not see the bottom. It was also clear that the opening was much smaller than actual width of the hole. I tossed a nearby stick into the hole in an effort to judge the depth and was astonished by how far it fell.

This photo does a very poor job of portraying the depth. It was literally 20-22 feet deep.
This morning was spent getting the hole repaired so that none of my 34 little egg hunters would fall in tomorrow. Two whole truckloads of gravel were required to fill the gaping space.

I was left scratching my head. What if one of my children had been walking across when the Earth gave way? How could something so dangerous be growing beneath the service without any indication?

I am such a metaphor girl that this spoke to me, of course.

I have been thinking a lot about the pain and/or shame many people are carrying around on a daily basis. Their outer shells may show little or no indication of what is really going on beneath. Their hearts may feel like caverns--hollowed from the inside--unbeknown to the rest of the world. Tonight I am burdened for those folks.

This is not the way it was meant to be. God created us and wired us for fellowship--with Him and with others. He wants to fill you up before you collapse...and not with dirt that can wash away again...but with solid rock that will stand the test of time, come what may.

He longs to fill us. It is but ours to open up and take it. Don't hide in your darkness.

"Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside

Cause you told me that I would find a hole,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see

It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
But you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive with the restart"
-Roll Away Your Stone, Mumford & Sons

This is the hope of Easter. God sent Jesus to walk here with us. He felt human emotions. He bore our pain and grief in order to set us free. Roll away your stone and let Him in.