Since then, our time has been spent working and playing- not always in equal combinations of the two. Andrew has added worm-collecting to the things he enjoys doing outside as I work in the garden. He loves the song "This Side" by Nickel Creek and asks to hear it over and over again. He dances in circles, sings, and plays air guitar when he hears music- or really when he hears "good" music... he has very sophisticated taste in music. Elijah has learned "DaDa and ByeBye" and army-crawls all over the house. He is fearless and into everything. He is like one of those wind up babies who runs into a wall and just keeps crawling forward, hitting the wall over and over and over.
On a serious note, we have been, through personal and church relationships, around a lot of sickness and death lately. Deaths of young people; from just weeks old to an almost two-year-old to a man in his mid forties. My dear pastor and husband has reminded me lately in his preaching through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings of the effects the fall brought- even on our bodies. I know there are days I feel very frail and weak. I have always known that my body was not made to live on this earth for very long. The Easter season reminded me that Christ conquered sin and death at the cross and in His triumphant resurrection. I have asked myself through all of this though, what do I do with all this tragedy on this side of eternity? God is clearly trying to teach me something. Well, I know I will not be taking for granted the wellness of my husband and children today or the responsibility I have to love them. I also am reminded that they are God's before they are mine and I desire His will in their lives above what I want for them. I pray that if faced directly with such sadness and difficulty as the families we have been so touched by, I will echo my dear brother in Christ in Germany who lost his baby girl, "Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your name. You give and take away, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Blessed be Your name." and be reminded that Weeping is for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
1 comment:
Death is a painful and shocking thing for individuals because it is the most un-natural thing we encounter in our experience. Death is sin and sin is death. We only experience death because of the Sin of Adam and our sinfulness throughout the ages; our constant rebellion against our Creator. Death should always be a reminder, however, of the amazing reality of Jesus Christ and His incarnation. Without the Word becoming Flesh, we would be defeated by death and sin, consigned to misery and an eternity apart from God. Easter is a great time to remind ourselves of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the blessed hope we have in that resurrection. Our hope is not in escaping this reality, it is in the transformation and resurrection of not only the universe but also each one of God's people in the Church. Those who have passed away are sharing in the same joy we have, the joy of the resurrection. Praise be to God for His grace towards us through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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