What a wonderful way to handle loss.
My second son, the 3 year old, has a favorite song right now. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord..." He sings it whenever he remembers, which is all the time.
What a wonderful way to handle loss.
The trees and my son are handling loss alot better than I am lately. I am not always reaching to heaven...my arms feel heavy lately. I am not always praising God like my son is. I want to but it seems like work.
Over the past three months two people have passed away, the pastor's family at the church I attend has announced they will be leaving at the end of February, and I find myself in an umcomfortable place. A little bit broken from people dying, a little bit beaten from the idea of more people leaving, and not being able to find joy as easily as I used to.
I am reading through Job in the morning. I can relate to Job's losses as of late. And he provides a great example to follow. He suffers loss and he blesses the name of God. Job loses everything that matters to him and that's his first response - this wild, tenacious thanks:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:20-21)
This reminds me of my son running the house praising God. This reminds me of the trees reaching to heaven. It's all about the impossible made possible.
In giving thanks, one lets go of pain, suffering, and loss and discovers a little bit of joy. It is the only way to breathe fully.
Spurgeon said it well:
"Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What sings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree. What the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God."
Nothing is a given - everything is a gift. Praise him.
I nod, smile bravely at my son and look out the window at the trees.
Loss and glory are intermingled. Grace and God come in.