For most of my life, when somebody I loved was struggling, I thought I only had two options: try to get him out of the painful situation or, if I couldn’t, live in the painful situation with him (as in “how can I enjoy today when he isn’t enjoying today?”). It was a lose-lose.
Now I know that I have a third option: I can ask God to give him today exactly what he needs today. Instead of using my imagination to catastrophize, I can use it to ask for all the good things I want for him--unexpected kindnesses, little glimmers of hope, a listening ear, moments of relief, and the comfort of this-too-will-pass. I can keep asking all day long, every time I think of him. In the asking, I can rest easy, because he is in good hands.
“Father, . . . give [him] today what [he] needs today.” Luke 11:2-3