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| 2010 in the rain |
Every one has been through a storm. The storm of heartache, loss, anger. No matter who you are, you have experienced a storm. Your storm may be huge or small, but there has been one. How did you weather it? Did you dance? One of my favorite memories is watching my boys dancing and playing in the rain. They were on the swing set in our yard. Sliding, dancing and singing with joy, innocence, freedom. The rain didn’t damper their spirit, it only excited it. Had they stayed inside they would have missed the dance.
I’ve not thought about this past year as dancing through a storm until I saw a write up for a church that Scott and I are speaking at soon. I then began to think over the previous year and reflect on the storm that we have had. There are days where I don’t feel like I have danced, but maybe stomped through, but I wouldn't want it to change. To change it means that we would have never had the blessing.
Storms can destroy, or storms can bring renewal or relief. I think of the storm that Noah was in. How tragic that was for the ones that were destroyed, but the relief Noah had, the peace that he knew he and his loved ones would survive. How do you weather a storm? As in all things you have a choice. How are you going to pull through it? Are you? Are you going to let go and let God or are you going alone? Are you going to dance or are you going to give up? God never wants us to be destroyed, to give up or to give in. When the storm gets strong though, it sometimes is hard to hang on. That is how this last year has been, hard to hang on. Praise God, He was hanging on to us.
Isaiah 41 13For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
It has been exactly one year ago this last week that our lives were forever changed. We heard those words that will always be etched in my head “I'm sorry, I've got some bad news. Something is wrong with your baby and you will never bring it home.” How we prayed for a miracle of healing on earth. We were selfish and wanted her here.…..though this was not God’s plan.
I struggle with that daily.
Isaiah 55 8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord
9“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Every day is different. Somedays anger, some sadness, some are questioning. I was reading through the things I’ve written over the last several months and it goes from a tornado to a peaceful snow to a ravaging hurricane. Some moments I feel like I’m losing my mind and other moments, I see hope, sunlight.
Our prayer since the beginning of Grace’s story was to use this in His mighty way. I have to say I have wondered how? How is He going to use it? A thought many probably have had as they go through their storm. I do know that through this storm and every other storm that we have, He is the sufficiency that we need to make it. We will be different when we get to the other side of the storm; changed in ways we may not have realized we could change, but He has guided us the entire way. Someone once said that if you avoid the storm, you could miss your greatest blessing. How very true. Sometimes after a storm comes the most beautiful rainbow. A promise from God. My promise is waiting in heaven. My joy is the precious family I am blessed with here. One husband that makes me laugh, two boys that brighten my day and a Heavenly Father that holds me up even when the skies are gray.
A wonderful song that describes Our Father during the storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bLvVjJ4MA
I can’t believe it has been a year. Wow, how time has flown. I bet your birthday celebration is amazing. I can’t even imagine. As I watch the gorgeous sunrise this morning in the cemetery, the birds are chirping Happy Birthday to Grace. I’m overtaken by God’s magnificent beauty. He gives us peace and strength when we call on Him.
I can’t believe it has been a year since we cried and prayed with you. The amazing peace we felt that day, but the pain of letting you go. The sadness is something I will never be able to forget, because it is with me daily. A part of me will always be with you. We have all been changed by you. There are days that are so hard, but God takes care of us. He sends us glimpses of you through His word, a whisper of your name, a gift that is a reminder of you shows up or a song about His amazing Grace. 
