My nearly 3 year old daughter accompanied me to the airport today to pick up my father. He got delayed coming out, so it took longer than usual. But my daughter did very well with the delay and even went to the bathroom there (and not in her own pants).
My mother used to like the quote that "you can only give children 2 things: roots and wings." You raise children not to hoard them, but to send them off and be a blessing. I think that she understood the notion that children aren't the "possession" of parents, but just lives whom God entrusts to certain people for certain periods to raise and release.
With our Jessica, we never really had the chance to give her roots and wings, even though we were more than willing to. She was sent straight to the presence of God, where she is well and whole.
However, I think it "fair" to ask God to allow Jessica's death to be a part of bringing other spiritual children into our lives whom we can give spiritual roots and wings to. May her death bring new life in others, as well as to us.
Tonight I had the chance to speak with one of our friends in the lobby of our builgind. She had come for good news and unfortunately received bad news. She was heartbroken to learn about Jessica's death. I mentioned how our faith in God is holding us up during this time.
After she left, I spoke with a neighbor in the lobby. Last Sunday when she asked about the baby, I had to give her the sad news, but also mentioned about how God was holding us up. This woman insisted that we would have to go through some depression.
Today she mentioned that her teenage daughter, who had listened to our conversation, said that "Ce sont des vrais croyants" ("these are real Christians.") She mentioned that she was from a Protestant background and that her husband's brother was a retired Protestant pastor. But she said that she and her husband don't practice the Protestant faith.
So, after being neighbors for 8 years, Jessica's death has already opened the door to learning much more about them.
2 commentaires:
That's so great! We are praying for you. Thanks for keeping us updated; your friends around the world are so interested in how you're doing. Both Nate and I were pretty emotional at seeing your picture with Jessica. She was beautiful. Take care, hope Nicole also can get some rest. Love of Christ to you. --Faith
That's really neat. One of my prayers for you guys in all this is exactly that. That God would use Jessica's death to open doors for you to be able to share more openly with people and hopefully bring them to Christ. The pain will still be there, but there would be rejoicing as well. I'm still praying for you.
Melissa Ellis
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