Two sets of parents very recently held funerals for their twelve-year-old sons just three weeks before Christmas. I can’t even begin to imagine their heartbreak. Even though it hurts just to think about the grief being endured, I take comfort in Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. May God grant them the grace to live each day in His strength.
Under these circumstances it is difficult to say Happy Sunday.
Do you sometimes relive your childhood? Does it make you feel glad or sad? How do we reconnect to that childhood? Here is one way gleaned from the Internet:
Start by deciding to abandon caution and to give this a try. Start by identifying the qualities of children you’d like to emulate: curiosity, play, living in the moment, abandoning worries, imagination, creativity, pure joy. Observe children. Watch how they play, how they live, how they create, how they ask questions.
And here is some of what the Bible says about children:
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
“And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” Mark 10:16
Happy Sunday.
While watching the birds go about their busyness of finding food this morning, this poem formed in my mind about how some things never change and how some things do.
A BROADER RANGE
As the birds were having breakfast
tiny bugs were being eaten,
floors were being swept
while rugs were being beaten.
The men about their business
were bringing home the pay
while women reared the children
whose job it was to play.
Birds still eat bugs for breakfast
the housework still gets done
the men still go to business
the children still have fun.
The moral of the story is
though some things do not change
the women in society
have gained a broader range.
On Thursday I picked up a library book, Memories of Heaven, by Dr. Wayne Dyer (one of my favorite authors) and Dee Garnes, who was his assistant at one time. It is a collection of short stories about very young children remembering where they were before they were born. It is a fascinating and easy read.
Many of the related memories are of being with God and choosing the parents they wanted to be born to. Some are of being here for a short time in another life and deciding to leave at an early age, (child deaths). Some related to changing their minds in the womb and not completing their journey, (miscarriages).
Because I have an open mind about so many things it is easy for me to read this book and consider the possibilities of these tiny testimonies. Besides, when my youngest son was just over two years old, he suddenly stated during a nap time, “I died you know, Mommy.”
I had had a miscarriage three years before he was born.
It makes it easy to wonder where am I from? Happy Saturday.
And so should we, even on Sunday. Proverbs 17:22 says A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
*One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names with small American flags mounted on either side of it.
The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor stood by the little boy and said, “Good morning, Alex.” “Good morning, Pastor,” he replied still focused on the plaque.
“Pastor, what is this?” he asked.
“Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.”
Soberly they stood together staring at the large plaque when finally Alex, his voice barely audible and trembling with fear, asked, “Which service was it, the 9:45 or the 11:15?”
*Found on the internet 7/4/2016.
Happy Sunday.
My seven-year-old great-grandson loves his twenty-one-month-old little sister more than words can say. This picture says it all. Remember that saying, “actions speak louder than words”? This is it in a nutshell. My prayer is that we and the world would know such pure love.
A fire in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, killed seven children ranging in age from four months to fourteen years. Their father is in life threatening condition and the mother is remarkably unharmed…physically.
Can anyone even fathom the devastation this mother is dealing with?
Tears are not enough to wash away the enormity of this woman’s suffering in the moment and in years to come…her own tears and those of all who mourn with her.
Some will ask where is God in all this.
Along with the rest of us…Jesus wept. (John 11:35)
Once again, words are not needed…just feel the love. May your day be filled with love, Happy Friday.
Another “love potion” picture makes me think the world can still be enchanting even with all its disenchantment.
No need for words when you see a photo like this. Once again, feel the love.
My Precious Life 