Senseless

 Senseless death. I know, that makes you *really* want to read this. You may stop...you have my permission. 

Two tragedies are heavy on my heart this week. One current. One a year ago this weekend. 

The current one: While we were visiting Jeremy's family, we got word that one of Jeremy's cousins and her husband were in a car accident. They were hit by a car leading a high speed police chase. The cousin is healing from multiple broken bones and her husband, who lived his life of 37 years with spina bifida, did not make it.  A wife left with broken bones and a broken heart. A family without a brother. a brother in law, nieces and nephews without an adoring uncle. Cousins hurting with their cousin.

A year ago I was making my grocery order when I received the text telling me that a friend in our close knit community had taken his life. This one brought out grief in me I didn't know how to process. My friend without her son. My children without their friend. An empty place at every church gathering.

As the familiar questions and feelings swirled  in my mind, on Sept 27, 2024, Ann Voskamp wrote an essay titled "When you wonder: How God Feels About All Kinds of Storms & Flooding Grief?" (You can read the full article on annvoskamp.com) Every once in a while an article comes into my feed and I read it at just the right time.

 

Here are my notes from Anna Voskamp:

"God has a heart. And it hurts. In the face of grief, in the midst of our storms, God's heart fills not with just a few drops of ache, not just with a slow drip of sadness--His whole massive heart fills, swells, burns with this raw, relentless pain." (based on Genesis 6:6)

"And God whispers hoarse: That mother whose heart is bound to her child's--doesn't compare to how your Father's heart is bound to you." (based on Isaiah 49:15)

"It's the quantum physics of God: one broken heart always breaks God's in two. We never cry alone."

"God catches every one of our falling tears and He's keeping us from falling apart." (based on Psalm 56:8 NLT)

"Sometimes God will calm the storm for you--but sometimes God will calm you for the storm. Sometimes God calms the storm---and sometimes the storm still swirls, and He calms our fears. All storms ultimately still to the sound of One Voice."

We do not hurt alone and we do not hurt without the hope of our eternal home in heaven with our Lord and Savior. 

(photo credit::Anna)