when your heart is at a loss for words...

many hearts broke today.  burdened under the weight of tragic news.  whys are lifted, as if knowing the answer would ease the pain.

it won't. 

the sting of death knows no salve.  other than the One that comes from above.

there are those who truly loved and lived with a dear soul whose life was cut way too short. and then there are ones, like me, who have fond memories from years ago. 

as a freshman in high school, there were two girls who dared to cross class ranks and befriend the low man on the totem pole. 

one of those girls reached out to me just this past Christmas to tell me how proud she was of me.  how much my words had meant to her.  words i share in this space. 

her encouragement warmed my heart on that cold december night.  tonight, the warmth lingers a bit longer. 

i haven't seen this girl in years.  i can't tell you anything about who she became after high school. 

but i can tell you this.  she was special.  and she was real.  qualities like that don't change over the course of the years. 

i can tell you that my heart mourns for a life that touched so many. 

when tragedy strikes, something big and heavy grips my heart.  i liken it to fear.  but that's not it.  as i sat with this awful news while my baby was in dance class, i scrolled the newsfeed on facebook.  and the big and heavy hit me again.

it's an urgency to tell others about Jesus.  before it's too late.  before another life is lost too soon.  before the coulda-shoulda-wouldas eat me alive. 

i am desperate for others to know that when you seek Him...really seek Him with all your heart.  you will find Him.  and when you find Him, you can't help but walk with Him.  everyday.  and when you walk with Him, you find peace knowing you will see Him face to face one day. 

do you seek Him?  have you found Him? 

i pray this sweet girl who befriended me way back when is safe in His arms tonight.  i find peace believing that she is indeed finally home.

i long for the day to be home with my Lord. 

until then, sweet girl.  until then.

 

 

'therefore we are always full of courage,

and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth

we are absent from the Lord—for we live by faith, not by sight. 

thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away

from the body and at home with the Lord.'
2 Corinthians 5:6-8