blue monday

so all of us in metro detroit are waiting to hear the news out of Ford Motor Co. today about what plants will be closed and a little more on how many jobs will be cut. I last lived here in michigan in 2000 before coming back in 2004, a lot has changed. The economy here is so tough. Who would've thought? With three of the world's biggest automakers all piled up into the southeastern corner of our state and a glut of shopping malls way nicer than what 5 cities could match all put together (not to mention how compared to any other place in our country, our cars are on average about 3-4 years newer) it sure seemed like our prosperity was going to be indefinite. Today is just another proof that not much in life is certain and is a reminder to be really careful about presuming on the future.

None of what happens today will affect me directly (sure, it'll eventually hit us all) and yet i jumped out of bed this morning and clicked around online trying to find any early "leaks" of what would be said later today. Incidentally the white house and other govt offices could learn a thing or two about secrecy from ford...there hasn't been too much intelligent chatter on any of this.

My heart is already hurting for all the people for whom todays news will be especially personal. If any of you who are reading this are feeling these cuts directly, let me say that i'm really sorry that this is happening to you.

And yet, here's what i know for certain. God is still with us all. And he is a God who makes and keeps promises. One of those is that those of us who follow him need not worry about what we will eat or what we will wear, because he will provide. (Matt 6:25-34). The other is that he is always with us, especially visible to us in the bad times. (Isaiah 41:17).

So, in a little over 4 hours the mystery will be over, and i think the news agencies will forget the story about 48 hours after that. But here's one more promise to us who will feel these effects longer. God won't forget about this and abandon us in a couple of days or weeks. In fact, i think we should all be getting ready to see MORE of God working in the middle of our wounded and bruised region. He's got a special knack for doing miracles in the midst of desolation... and who knows, maybe under present circumstances, we'll be a little more willing to see him. Peace be with you.