This Is the Way; Walk in It

This Is the Way; Walk in It

by Jasmine Chen Gatti

 “And your ears shall hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left”

(Isaiah 30:21, (ESV).

 

Instead of heading south after leaving the writing conference at Lake Yale, I drive north. Hurricane Ian’s eye disrupted plans to travel farther into Florida. I decide to stop at Hilton Head beach. There I witness the dawn. A white pupil of an eye opens along the horizon then fades into the shroud of ombre orange. The cold, white sand settles between my toes.

The grittiness reminds me that after this exhilarating, overwhelming conference, I’m to anticipate a bumpy re-entry to the grind of writing and caregiving. I pause, taste the pelting salty spray, and recite my morning verse.

“I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:13-14, ESV). The scripture helps me recall the slog of tapping keys to spew misfit words on my computer or squeezing out toothpaste for a young child and an aging mother.

The Lord speaks softly, “Don’t let this moment go. Remember the sunrises, writing, and caregiving as moments when I am with you. See me.” Can I trust that tasks aren’t just chores but a reminder of God’s steadfastness, faithfulness, and goodness?

The power of the Lord helps and strengthens me. Each day he presents the supremacy of creation in relentless waves, persistent sunshine, and recurring showers. He reminds me his steadfast love endures. Steadfast. Love. Endures. Together abiding, his voice tells me to go right or left, to travel north or south, and recognize his presence there.

Lord, you see me “endure” being faithful and say it is good. You remind me that you are in the eye of the sunrise and the eye of the storm, in each word I write and each person I care for. Whether I fully understand it or not, you are with me, and all this embodies “good.”

 

Jasmine C. Gatti is the author of lay and technical articles, hospice clinician, and speaker about caregiving and medicine (churches, care facilities, panels) educated at Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown U. School of Medicine.  Caregiver to parents, children, and dogs and to her husband’s family. She lives in Maryland.

Her website: Writeinstantly.org