I am so thankful that I don't need to understand God and what He does in order to trust that He knows what He is doing. I am so thankful that in His way and in His time He makes all things beautiful. I am so thankful that He knows the journey each of us is going to take and that He has promised to be with us every step of the way. I am so thankful that even when we don't understand and when we grieve and shed tears that God is still sovereign. It doesn't mean I don't at times ask questions though. Like today...
Last night a precious little girl went home to be with Jesus after literally fighting for her life since before she was even born. Little Hope was born with half of a heart and last night, after a long battle, many surgeries and basically living in a hospital, her exhausted body went to sleep, she is now with Jesus and her heart is whole. I never had the privilege of meeting this sweet girl but followed her story through her Mom's blog. An open and honest blog of what it was like to travel this road, the good, the bad and the ugly. Hope lived until she was 13 months old and many hearts and lives were touched by this little girl and the amazing testimony and witness that her parents and extended family are. As I hold my own sweet baby close I can't help but ache and cry for Hope's parents and the loss they must be feeling. Yes, the last year has been harder than they were probably expecting but to have your precious baby taken from you must be so devastating. How thankful I am that they serve the Lord and that with His strength they will be able to deal with this next part of the journey.
This weekend we also heard that my friend Lara's husband Bruce, who was in the hospital a couple of months ago fighting for his life, this Sunday walked into church healthier than many 20 year olds! The miracles God has wrought in his physical body are absolutely stunning and the testimony has reached the world over to touch people and change lives.
This is where my questions come in...why did God choose to take Hope but heal Bruce? Why must one family grieve while the other rejoices? They both had thousands of people praying for them, interceding on their behalf.
I don't have answers, but you know what? I am okay with that. I learned a long time ago to put my trust in God. To not try and figure out what and why He does things the way He does. To not question or seek with my feeble earth-bound mind for answers that I may never understand anyways. There is a reason for all of this and we may never get to find out what that is but the truth of the matter is - God knows what He is doing. He knows the answers to all of the questions and why things have to happen the way they do. I am so thankful that I don't have to figure it out because I would exhaust myself trying to do so and I would be frustrated beyond words.
This I do know...God did heal Hope. He healed her in the way that He saw fit, the way that He knows will have more of an impact on people, the way that He knew was best for Hope and for her family. Hope has a whole heart now. A whole beautiful heart that is beating for joy to be in the presence of Jesus. She doesn't have any more tubes or wires or needles or medications. She is no longer in pain or sad or uncomfortable. She is whole, perfect, blameless, beautiful, healed.
One day I hope that Bruce and Hope are able to meet and swap stories. To share with each other all that God did through their stories, which to us seem to be so opposite but in God's eyes are exactly how He knew they would turn out.
As we rejoice with Bruce and Lara in the amazing, miraculous things that God has done and is doing through their story let us also remember to pray for Hope's parents Shawn and Amy and her big sister Sadie. They are starting out on a new journey now, with a part of them missing. May God be their strength and their comfort and may they one day be able to rejoice again and may God turn their mourning into dancing.
I am so thankful that hope springs eternal...
If any of you would like to know more of Hope's story here is the link to Amy's blog:
www.mendingheartsandbendingknees.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment