So I prayed and prayed. I remembered the advice in Scripture not to worry in advance about what to say in a difficult situation, but to do my best in preparation and then rely on the Holy Spirit, my best Advocate and Attorney, to help me choose the right words to say.
The situation escalated even further after I arrived. Linda exploded. Somehow I stayed calm, trying to build understanding. I knew God was with me.
So far today it seems that real communication has happened, and the situation has improved. As St. Teresa of Avila says, "God alone suffices."
Tom Cruise took a T.V. series to the movies - "Mission: Impossible" - in which an anonymous voice says to a crew of seasoned warriors "Your Mission, should you choose to accept it..." And I think that's something that God is always talking to us about. Every day, God has a mission, big or small, in mind for us.
But God never asks us anything anonymously. God is a Person, Who lives in a personal relationship with us. So God always asks us personally because God knows what we're capable of more than we do.
When I came home, exhausted but relatively triumphant from my family meeting yesterday, my husband Paul said softly "I KNEW you could do it!" Now I trust my husband because he knows practical things like the difference between direct and alternating current, so I knew this was a practical assessment of my particular diplomatic skills. But - I didn't know I could handle this situation - and I learned that I could. I grew - because of the mission God gave me that I hadn't wanted.
God, like the voice in "Mission Impossible," also always gives us a choice - the mission is yours "should you choose to accept it." We have free will, just as Mary did when Gabriel asked her if she was willing to be the Mother of God's Son. Gabriel waited patiently and politely for her answer - as God is always waiting patiently and politely for us.
How often, in a difficult situation, are we the only one available? The only one literally who is there to do the work? Or the only one who sees clearly what needs to be done? Or the only one willing to have the courage to do what should be done? Yet so often we are reluctant. We don't want to step out of our comfort zone. Or the job is inconvenient or messy or might get people mad at us.
These other words spoken by Teresa of Avila are good to remember when we are weak-willed and weak-kneed:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content, knowing that you are a child of God.
Let this Presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for every one of you.
Again - May you trust God that you are EXACTLY where you are meant to be!