Life and Loss

Happy and sad hold hands.

Words Without Pictures

I left at exactly the right time to arrive at my destination. I turned up the road and immediately noticed a car to my right on the shoulder, hazards slowing time. My eyes scanned the surrounding area, wondering where the occupants were and then I saw. In the median between this way and that way, time most certainly stood still. A young child, maybe three or four, was holding tight to a woman's hand. The woman, crouched down, the child too, looking at a memorial of flowers and a cross, faded and winter-worn.

And then they rose and crossed back over the road to the waiting car.

My mind was digging deep, remembering the news of a car crash in this very spot, one that left a toddler fatherless, about a year and a half ago. It fit, too easily and not at all at the same time.

As I drove on I realized I had turned down the wrong road. This wrong turn gave me a front row seat to this very sad scene that played out before my eyes. For some reason I was meant to see this. And I know. I know why.

I prayed for that young child as I carried on in time to my destination.

"God, please watch over this young one. Tenderly care for and love this little heart."

Happy and Sad Hold Hands

Early this morning a dear lady, a woman of grace and beauty, a child of God, went to be with her Heavenly Father, our great Creator, Maker of heaven and earth.

There is such a profound sense of loss at the same time as a profound sense of joy, knowing she is now face to face with Jesus. I've said it before in a very simple way that seems incapable of holding my thoughts on this...happy and sad hold hands. It is so.

God gives and takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Daisies

Even with petals missing and snowy caps, these daisies seem happy. The bubbly bokeh plays in the background, echoing the daisies' delight.

These images remind me of words I once penned...beauty is not in the absence of loss but in the presence of light. It is so.

Spotlight - Love in Loss

The past couple of years have included highly challenging and deeply painful times. These times of loss and suffering have allowed me to see Grace and Love in ways I likely would not have had the pain and loss been absent.

This past October I was at the lake with some friends for a weekend away. Walking along the beach, ravaged by a freak weather bomb, a heart, calm and quiet, lay peeking out from the sand. It seemed as though it was just waiting for me to see it. The destruction was still all around me but in the midst of this, quiet and calm were present.

Love in Loss