arise

Death of a believer is never in vain
Death does not swallow - it's all for His gain.
And yet the heart cries, and the pleas arise -
"why, WHY, does she have to die?"

The faces behind who still must walk on
we know little children are not very strong.
The tears pour down and our prayers arise -
"Be with them, Lord, that their faith would not die."

Her words, her life showed sacrifice here
A woman of faith, to whom God was near.
It comes to an end and our praises arise.
"Father, in her life, you have been glorified".

Let's kneel to our still-great God in prayer,
even when we wonder if He's really there.
"For whom the Lord loveth", He tests and He tries,
And in deepest grief, we lift up our eyes.


Janella's death has hit me hard... which is a little bit uncharacteristic of me. Not that it isn't so tragic and awful, but that I didn't know her well, and I had only had some brief Facebook and blog communication with her, and usually it takes much more than that for me to feel loss like I do now. Maybe it's because I know how beautiful that vacation would have been in the midst of regular missionary stress. Maybe it's because it just hits so close to home - those two little sweet faces, ages 4 and 2, and a grieving daddy. Maybe it's just because the whole situation comes when I've been battling a fear of surrender for the longest time, because it just seems like so often, surrender ends in hurt.
But there's this quote that I shared with some girls on Friday night and I'll share it again here, because its so relevant:
  “How does one become butterfly?' Pooh asked pensively.
  “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar,” Piglet replied.
  “You mean to die?” asked Pooh.
  “Yes and no,” he answered. “What looks like you will die, but what's really you will live on.”
-A.A. Milne
And that's exactly it - to become the spirit-filled beings that God intends for us to be, we must be willing to go through the pain of giving up what we know and want in exchange for something unknown, and yet better.
Because "what looks like you will die, but what's really you will live on."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

loved

Image
I have prayed, as all mothers do, that God would give me opportunities to help me teach my children what a real and deep relationship with Him looks like. I am ashamed to admit that when the answer to that prayer showed up as anxiety in my oldest, I wasn't overly thankful - nor did I recognize it as the answer to my prayer. As I think through our conversations over the past few days, I see now that she is sorting through the good and the bad and every little comment is only touching the surface of many deep thoughts, feelings, and questions. And I am thankful that she is feeling deeply and asking questions because that is the beginning of a lifelong relationship with Jesus. She had preschool graduation this morning and I'm not one to get emotional but there must be something about 'Pomp and Circumstance' that brings it out in me. Happy endings, new beginnings, and celebration... I suppose all of it is definitely worth getting emotional about. :) ...
Read more

edelstein: before & after

Image
It was still pretty cold in April of this year - I distinctly remember because we closed on this house that we planned to remodel and rent out, and then we walked in the door and I set an infant car seat down on the floor and realized that none of us was wearing enough layers to stay warm, and the place did, in fact, still smell like cigarette smoke. However, the previous homeowner had left a gift for the kids, and I was moved to tears by her generosity and thoughtfulness. Truly, what a gift from her and from God - to realize that this was exactly where He wanted our family for this period of time. The dust started to fly and the overwhelm did not abate but the grace abounded and with lots of good help and expertise from many sources, 2823 W. Main St was transformed into a habitable place. We're honored and excited to be renting it to three sweet girls who keep it sparkling clean and photo-worthy at all times... and since that's the best way to tell the story, here a...
Read more

tending

"This is the work of tending - and it is the work that makes up most of life. To tend is to make small, frequent, repeated actions without immediate results, but with long-term payoff. Tending is the language of habits and rituals. It is hard work, because it is usually menial and persistent. It is embedded in diligent process instead of fast and easy results. Tending is hard. It is often monotonous and seemingly insignificant. As I tend to my garden each day, there is little evidence of change. I cannot see my plants growing in front of my eyes. But I continue to water and fertilize, stake and weed, because I know that the cumulative effect of these small, consistent interventions will be a harvest." ( Daughers of Promise, "Tend" , p. 7) For me, at this stage, parenting is tending. It is hard work, tedious, monotonous. I say the same things, at about the same times, every day. Over and over, we have to re-learn to be kind, respectful, and use our words instead of...
Read more