Your many cares have been laid before the Lord and heard with sincere sympathy. You carry a heavy load, with a father who is sick, a mother who struggles in mind and temper, and a household where provision seems scanty and the journey home lies before you with many uncertainties.
Hear first the word of our Saviour, Do not be anxious about your temporal affairs. Be prudent and do what duty plainly requires, but do not be so affected by external things as to get into a state of worry, fretfulness and distress. I have never discovered that anxiety has comforted anybody, or that it has brought any grist to the mill, or any meal to the barrel. And the very anxiety which arises through your being in a difficulty unfits you to meet that difficulty. Cast therefore your burden upon the Lord, for He cares for you.
We have prayed for your father that the Lord would lay His healing hand upon him and give wisdom to those who care for him. It is right that he should call the doctor, and we pray that the Lord would direct the time of that appointment according to His good providence, and give you sufficient time to make ready for your return with peace and order rather than haste.
For your mother we have prayed also, that God would grant her quietness of mind and gentleness of spirit, and grant you grace to honour her even when she is strange and difficult. The Lord knows the strain that mental affliction brings upon a whole family. Seek grace to answer with softness and patience, remembering that family piety involves responsibilities and that family prayer is the nutriment of family piety. If you are able, even in a simple way, to draw near to God together, though it be but a brief word of prayer, it is a castle of defence for the home.
Concerning your temporal needs, the paper plates and other provisions, the things hoped for at the post office, the old van, the roof over your head and the weather, we are reminded that all things are yours if you are Christ's, and that your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things. Be prudent in preparing what you can, as God enables you, and then leave the outcome with Him who sends both sun and snow in their season. He who has preserved you thus far will not fail you on the road, and whether the snow comes early or late, His purposes are kind.
For your fears about trouble after you return, and about being forced to take your room apart or to labour beyond your strength when you are exhausted, we pray that the Lord would give you favour in your household and wisdom to do what is right and needful in its proper season. There are more important things to deal with than lesser matters of order, and we pray that those who have authority over you would see this and deal gently with you. Rest also is needful, and even our Lord called His disciples aside to rest awhile. Do what you can faithfully, and trust God for the rest.
Above all, we pray that you may know for yourself the personal filling from Christ. Family religion, though a great mercy, cannot stand in the place of personal godliness. You must go to Christ for yourself. He alone is the Saviour, and there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Come to Him with all your sins and all your cares, and find in Him fullness of joy, that your joy may be full.
May the Lord keep you in your going out and your coming in, preserve your dwelling, prosper your journey, and give you a quiet heart to trust Him day by day.
