The Fragility of Life and the Promise of Eternity

Once again I am reminded in a very sobering way how very fragile life is. It amazes me and perplexes me how the Creator of Life itself can give life so freely yet also take it away so freely. I know there is so much more than our human eyes will ever be able to see in the Spirit realm and I know that there is so much more than our mortal minds can ever possibly even begin to wrap our minds and hearts around. But it still is so very heartwrenching to know of someone else's pain.......pain that I cannot even begin to fathom having to walk through. As I read through my few favorite blogs today I read Denise's, a fellow Above Rubies and homeschooling mom, and what they are being forced to try and grasp and deal with as a little life has been so freely taken from them. She has her own 3 beautiful children and then she also runs an at home daycare. These sweet children she lovingly takes into her home become as close to her own as you can get. While in her care last week the 5 month old she keeps and loves on all day long never woke up from his nap. My heart aches for her and for this baby's precious family. I sat in tears at the very thought of God calling me to give up one of our babies for His purpose. I sit and read Boothe's blog and her continual journey of grieving the loss of Copeland and I am honestly not sure my faith is that strong. I like to think that it is but in reality when it comes right down to it I don't think I could ever go through anything even remotely close to that with as much dignity as their family is walking through her loss or the character with which she lives. It is a very real walk down a road of seeking to know exactly who this God is that can take life away...the innocent life of a baby....and still be the merciful wonderful God that He says He is. It is the discovery of God Himself and the character of Him and it is breathtaking in a very heartwrenching way.



And I know that little Caleb's family is now dealing with the loss of their sweet baby boy. As I wrote in my previous entry, I have come to the full realization and the knowledge of how incredibly easy my life is...and I say easy instead of blessed because I know more now than ever that these families that have lost their precious babies are far from lacking the blessing of God......they, in fact, have been given extraordinary, supernatural amounts of strength, grace and mercy to walk through this period in their lives. There is nothing about life and the breath of each and every person that should ever be taken for granted. I have come to love and appreciate more and more the people who surround me, who surround our family with love and support. I absolutely treasure life. I am learning to treasure the little things. We have had our up and downs and times of utter despair wondering where God is and how He could've seemingly abandoned us while we worked through our own hardships but He has not required of us to walk the torturous path of giving up one of the children He gave us....or even watching them suffer in any way with a devastating illness.



Life is so fragile.....so fleeting. Whether it be baby Copeland's 1 week, Caleb's 5 months, Ben's 22 years or Grandpa's 59 years it is all so short. They were all given and taken away much too soon by the hand of a God that we will never fully understand until we sit by His side. And we sit as the ones that are left grieving the loss of these loved ones. Struggling to understand in our own mortality we draw closer to God as we seek to understand His infinite wisdom and await the day we join our precious family in Heaven........yes, a real place that is not an illusion or some pie in the sky theory....literally. A place that we are promised to those that truly love the one true God and believe with everything within them that Jesus came to redeem every part of them. A place that is very much real that we will be able to see and touch. Here is an excerpt from Boothe's blog, her incredible journey into the heart of losing someone she desperately loved way too soon. It sums it all up......even as we are still left seeking answers to questions that may never get answered.

"I am convinced there is no god, there is no deity - there is no good thing or good idea or good concept or GOOD at all - apart from Jesus Christ. Conor and I are reading a book called "Heaven" by a writer named Randy Alcorn and while I love it - I love it - it's strange: he's actually talking like heaven is a real place. He's capitalizing it. Heaven. It's no different than New York or Milan to him. It's a place. But where? I don't know. Neither does he. Conor and I look at each other on occasion and it's like a mutual resignation to partial insanity - "Okay, so... do you believe this? Whew... me, too." And thus, we keep reading. Perhaps it's for comfort. Perhaps it's because I've never had much of an interest in heaven - Heaven - before. And now I think about it almost constantly. I believe it's real, physical, tangible, that there are angels and people - though they're not the same - and that God dwells with them there. God dwells with them. I don't know a lot. I don't suspect most of us do. But I can tell you: I believe it. I believe in the whole thing. And I don't think I'm entirely responsible for that belief. It's a choice - of course - on some level, but the choice is more in the not-rejecting of it than in the accepting. If I believe any of this, if I have a faith in Jesus, in the person of Christ, if I can truly rest on what He's saying to me, even today, even while I miss my baby daughter more than I can ever, ever express, it's because He gave it to me. My faith, my hope, my love - these are all copies. The real ones must be placed within me. If I believe, it's because He gave me the belief in the first place. If I rest, it's because He quieted me. There's a story in Mark of a father whose child is possessed. When he asks Jesus to heal his son, he uses the word "if" - "If you can do anything, take pity on us and heal him!" Jesus, taken aback, says bluntly: "If I can? Everything is possible for those who believe." And the man, in a moment that will forever define the conflict in the human heart, responds frantically, "I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!" We are a mixture of our own dreadful attempts to believe and our desperate, desperate need to have that belief fastened within us. Part of us must do the confessing - and part, the receiving.Love is not enough. Faith and hope and joy and determination and perseverance and commitment and peace and patience and goodness - they're not enough. They're just pretty words for pretty books that perhaps we'll buy to make ourselves feel better - for a time. But ultimately, the richness and fullness of these things cannot be tapped into unless and until something - Someone - allows it. As humans, we're entirely devoid of and entirely barred access to them all - if not for the cross of Christ. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit..." Pitch the book. Pitch them all. Don't go running toward something that, at the end of the day, will leave you feeling empty and alone. There is no person, there is no answer, there is no trick or tactic that will ever, ever be to you what He will. Do not be deceived. "

I am praying fervently for Denise and Caleb's family. I continue to pray for Conor and Boothe and their family as well.