Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Growing Through Tragedy

The last few weeks have been difficult ones for our family.  A week before Good Friday, Terry's 30-year-old nephew was killed in a car accident.  Terry flew to California the following Monday to be with his family for six days while I kept the home front going.

As I grieved during that week,  particularly for Terry's sister and mother, I was so blessed by the surety of God's presence and working in all of our lives.  I was amazed at how frequently, during my morning Bible Study and my evening Bible Reading, the Scriptures I "happened" to be reading gave specific comfort for the rough times we were enduring.  I read verses like these:

You number my wanderings, 
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
Ps. 56:8

The righteous cry out and the Lord hears
Ad delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.
Ps. 34:17-18

In God (I will praise His Word)
In the Lord (I will praise His Word)
In God I have put my trust.
I will not be afraid. 
What can man do to me?
Ps 56:10-11

I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens and Your truth to the clouds.
Be exalted above the Heavens, O God, 
Let Your glory be above the earth.
Ps. 57:9-11

That last one was a good reminder to me that even in our deepest griefs, we need to remember that God is STILL God.  We can't possibly begin to imagine what could be the "good" in this tragedy...but we aren't God.  It is hard, right now, for us to see how God can bring anything good out of it...but we aren't God.  It seems totally unfair to us and makes us downright mad...but we aren't God.  He is the Creator; we the created.  It is for us to thank Him in all situations (perhaps not FOR all situations, but IN them) and to praise and exalt Him, regardless.

It has been a difficult, devastating time and I hate that this is now part of our family history.  But I'm so thankful that we do have our faith in God to help us make any sense of it, to give us strength, and to give us HOPE...we will see Dale again, and what a glorious meeting that will be!

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Home, sweet home

Home, sweet home