Compassion Runs Deep

I never thought I would be able to smile and laugh on Lilly's birthday. It seemed so strange to me. Sometimes I still know what it is to feel as if I will never be able to smile again, and yet there I was, enjoying company of good friends, even on her "Heaven Day".

Some will say it is a testament to our strength and heroic courage in handling our grief. I say it is the grace of God with compassion and support from others. When someone genuinely shares our tears, it is like they have stepped into our world of hurt and somehow their strength helps to carry the immense weight of it all.

A week before Lilly's birthday, I was pleasantly surprised by a billing girl in the dentist office. We have had some insurance problems due to policies being wrongfully canceled after Lilly died. Instead of canceling her insurance they canceled all of our plans...

I had to explain that my daughter had died a year ago and why our insurance company still seems to get confused, and then there I was, in the middle of a dentist office with a stranger hugging me and asking to hear my story. I gave her the short version, and she shared about her niece, Mya, whose heart stopped beating just a few days before she was due.

As I looked into this strangers teary eyes, full of compassion and genuine interest, I thought, "she must know my Lord." By the time we said goodbye she had said Lilly's name more than most people I know have in a year. It was heartening that she did not run away or look at me as if she might be able to catch my pain like a disease.

Moments like that begin to restore my faith in humanity and remind me of the things Lilly has taught me. However, like most highs, I should have known a trench was waiting just ahead.

On the way home from this very encounter, I was pulled over in a speed trap, going 45 in a 35. Right in front of the cemetery. The cop was abrupt and rude as I silently handed him my information, and I cursed my absent mind as he went back to his car to write my ticket.

While I waited, a funeral procession went by. Being alone with my thoughts on the best of days can be dangerous, and here I was sitting so close to her little body, reliving her own funeral. Not the best situation for a bereaved mother with an anxiety problem. I took some deep breaths and tried desperately to hold it together just long enough to get my stupid ticket and get home so I could break down there.

When I finally calmed down, probably hours later, to tell Casey what happened, he called it the perfect storm of events. Because it did not stop with the ticket and the funeral procession directly across from the cemetery where my daughter lies. He told me that the court date for the ticket was on February 19th, of all the days in this wretched world....it was her birthday.

I fell completely apart.

I'm sure he thought I was trying to get out of a ticket, but what an actress I would have to be to pull off the crazy, wild sobs rolling from the depths of that hurt. I tried to put up my hand to stop his rambling, I couldn't make out any of it anyway, and I explained; "please sir, I just need a minute, my daughter died last year and that happens to be her birthday". He mumbled something like "sorry about that loss", and continued to spew his superfluous information in a tone soaked with cold indifference.

I don't know if it was the drastic digression in compassion between this encounter and the one I had just had moments ago at the dentist office, or if it was the break of trust in a figure that is supposed to be on my side; but as he tossed my ticket in my passenger window and walked away, leaving me a crumpled mess, I grew hysterical to the point that I knew I could not drive.

How I dialed the phone and communicated my location to Casey, I'm really not sure. I know he couldn't make out anything I said for at least 15 minutes.

The emotional roller coaster between Joy and Sorrow exhausted me. It does most days actually, this just happened to be more than I could physically/emotionally handle. I couldn't stop shaking. The only thing that stifled my wild sobs was my fear of scaring Isaac.

I wish I could say this was a one time thing. But the truth is, it happens more often than you want to know. Less now that I am taking medication, but really that just prolongs the time between episodes.

This separation of parent and child....there is something so unnatural about it, something so wrong it's on the verge of evil. It is like daily torture. Dying little by little, every moment she can't be with me.

Children aren't supposed to die. We are supposed to leave them once we are confident they are comfortable and safe to be left on their own in the world.

I don't have any deep theological wisdom filled thoughts to share...just my daily struggle to keep breathing....to want to keep breathing...without her....

My initial reason for sharing this story was to move others toward compassion rather than judgement or preoccupation with self. You never know what the person behind you at the checkout has been through. Who knows if the woman you complain to about your children is secretly hurting because she can't have her own.

Maybe we should stop and think a little more before we judge. Compassion can go a very long way into the heart of the hurting. But so can negligence and scorn.

Celebration of Life and Hope

Last week we remembered what would have been Lilly's 1st birthday and then her "Heaven Day".

We went to the cemetery and covered her cold bed with rose petals. It was frigid and snowing on her birthday. I hate the thought of her in that icy ground. It's irrational, but I have often told Casey how much I regret not covering her with a blanket before they closed my daughter away from me in that tiny casket.

I was touched by those who came out in this cold to be with us and send balloons to the heavens in honor of miss Lillian Hope. We don't deserve the measure of grace and kindness others have showered on us even now, a year since she rocked our world.

After each balloon release (we did a small one on her birthday as it was freezing, and held the big event on her Heaven Day which was warm and sunny) we invited everyone to a reception. I made Lilly a cake, as I will do with all my children's birthdays, and fussed over a clean house like I haven't for months.

As I was dusting parts of the house that hadn't been touched for more than a year, I felt like it was more than just preparing for company. It felt like, emotionally we were clearing the dusty corners of our hearts, picking ourselves up, brushing ourselves off and staggering forward into our new world.

On Saturday I read from 2 Samuel 12:19-23. As I was looking up the scriptures I knew I wanted to read on the way to the cemetery, it hit me hard to realize the significance of the numerical location. Lilly lived and died 2/19-23/12...

¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

I explained that we were moving on, but that Lilly is and forever will be a part of our family. She will never be forgotten or overlooked. We move on because we have to, and by the grace of God and the love and support of others, we feel as if we can begin to stumble out of the blackness and into the shadow.

The fact that I will never see her again in this lifetime has been very difficult for me to grasp. If I could bring her back to me, I would. However, like King David, instead we must hold tight to the Hope of Heaven, everyday.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Before bedtime prayers that Tuesday, Isaac asked me if I was sad. He always knows when I'm feeling particularly down, whether I express it outwardly or not. I said, "Yes I'm sad because I wish Sissy could be with us, but I am so happy to have you." This is a conversation we have fairly often and he usually gives me a hug or kiss and goes on playing. At prayer time we ask him if there is anything he wants to tell Jesus. That night he said simply, "yeah I say Jesus make Momma happy". 

My sweet, sweet boy! What would I do without Isaac? I am baffled by mothers who lose their first child and find the strength to move on. Most days, Isaac is my only true reason to go on living. He is my gift. Certainly, God has blessed his name: Isaac-Laughter or "He will laugh" and John-God is gracious.

**In honor of our precious Lilly's memory, we have launched a website - lillianhope.com. Please visit the Give Hope page and/or pass the site along to other grieving hearts that may find it useful.

Bitterness

I recently posted a status to my Facebook page that read "Sometimes the answer to the crap God puts in your life isn't to look for the positive or find ways to ignore or get past it....sometimes you just need to go through it with as much grace as you can muster and see what it is God wants to do with the broken pieces...."

An acquaintance responded with a flat "God does not put crap in your life". Initially I wanted to drag her through the bible and point out all the times God did indeed put what I have so eloquently deemed as "crap" in people's lives, but then I took a breath and thought, "I'll just blog it out."

So the question is: Does God put crap in your life?

Well...I would say watching my daughter die in my arms is a big fat load of crap.

To say that God had no hand in it, the devil did it, or bad things just happen, diminishes God to something too small to be worth calling "Almighty".

We cannot understand it all and we cannot hold all the answers or we would be nothing short of gods ourselves. Still, I struggle to accept that God could allow such pain in those He loves.


In the book of Ruth, Naomi lost her husband and both of her sons. When she returned to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, they called her by name and this is what she said.

 “Don’t call me Naomi,^[a]” she told them. “Call me Mara,^[b] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” (Ruth 1:20-21)

1. Naomi means pleasant.
2. Mara means bitter.

I cannot ignore that God Himself authorized Lilly's death. I cannot understand why He could not have found another way to accomplish the good that has come from it.


I did not lose a job. I don't need healing. I can't even find joy in the life of my loved one, for it was stolen from her before it began.

The answer is not on its way. I cannot wait for the Lord to turn my situation around for my good. I know He can, and has, used Lilly's story for good, but there is nothing I can say I wouldn't trade to have her back in my arms.

I have learned joy in this new life, but it will always be tainted by sorrow. My true joy waits in the unknown of eternity.

So, I push on and continue to pursue God and look for some sort of peace.

It is a struggle....no... a battle I face everyday. I am drowning in this bitterness and I must fight to keep my head above water.

There are times when I think myself justified in a grumpy attitude and quick flashes of anger. After all, how dare God allow neglectful and abusive people to keep their children and take my baby girl when I am a loving, responsible parent?

I know sometimes I sport a bad attitude. The status that started this whole thing was composed out of bitterness toward someone who has not handled our situation very well. They often dart away when they see us coming to avoid a possible awkward conversation, they seem to always be looking for a change of subject or something "happy" to talk about, and have an obvious air of "aww you poor thing...I'm so sorry this thing happened to you but I'm really kind of over it, isn't it about time you found peace and moved on?"

Don't worry, I'm not always this crude.

Praying continually, perfectly candid and honest with the Lord, I search for Him day by day. Even in the midst of my anger and frustration at Him, at the world, at death itself, He finds a way to calm me and meet me where I am.

My heart is torn. I am humbled by the grace of my Loving Father.

Horatio G. Spafford wrote the words of a hymn I have sung many times. Spafford didn't lose one, but six children, all in tragic ways. Six. I marvel at his words. Only true grace and peace from the Living God could bring such faith from such a shattered heart. 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

when sorrows like sea billows roll;

whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

let this blest assurance control,

that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, 

and hath shed his own blood for my soul.  

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole, 

is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, 

praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!  

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; 

the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, 

even so, it is well with my soul.

I am searching for that peace and I have felt her near. Lilly, my missing piece. She is here, I can sense her. Or, perhaps, it is the Holy Spirit whispering peace to my heart. I hear them saying... Heaven is real. This was supposed to happen. It was always a part of the plan. Do not worry, time in this world fades quickly and I will be with you forever some day.

I can sometimes say it is well with my soul. Sometimes...but the pain is still there, still real, still encompassing my heart, the fabric of my being, my life...

Even so, I am beginning to understand this Hope. It is not in this world, but the one to come. The struggle is in the waiting.

At times I feel like a spiritually rebellious teenager, but He is always the constant lover of my soul. 

It reminds me of a song we often sing on Sunday mornings...

Nothing can separate

Even if I ran away

Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes

But You have new mercies for me everyday 

Your love never fails  

You stay the same through the ages 

Your love never changes 

There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning 

And when the oceans rage 

I don't have to be afraid 

Because I know that You love me 

Your love never fails

-Jesus Culture

Prayer:

Forgive my bitterness and unbelief. I know I must let go to find your peace. I know it's silly but I am afraid that in letting go of Lilly I will lose her or forfeit my role as her mother. Help me to understand that it is not Lilly I must let go of, but the bitterness in my heart, and that there is no shame in allowing myself to feel happy. I pray also for the grace and compassion required to forgive others and the wisdom to educate for those who will come after me. I love you Lord! Holy Spirit guide me...help me find His Peace.

A Grief Letter for Christmas

Casey and I had tried to write thank you notes and birth/death announcements for months. Then the holidays were fast approaching and the anticipation of Christmas with it's crowds and parties sent me straight into full out anxiety attacks. 

So, we finally forced ourselves to sit down and create Lilly's announcements along with grief letter and Christmas card. Like most activities involving Lilly, it was painful but deliberate; beautiful and somehow healing. 

Taking family pictures is too sad and empty without her.  We had Casey's parents just take some photos at our house with one of her Christmas ornaments, a pair of little pink shoes, off to the side. It was very hard for me, but Isaac, always full of love and laughter, had us giggling by the end. He is truly my Joy!

Many many of our family and friends have thanked us for the letter. They said it was very helpful and they appreciated being invited in to share Lilly with us. 

I want to share it with you all too...

Dearest Family and Friends,

With heavy hearts, we acknowledge the birth and death of our daughter, Lillian Hope Topping. Born on February 19th of this year, Lilly measured 20 ¾ inches long and weighed a perfect 7lbs 14oz. She had strawberry blond hair and was, and is, the most beautiful baby we’ve ever seen. In her brief life, she touched countless people, spreading the message of Love, Kindness and Hope in the Lord without ever making a sound. Our lives were forever changed by our little girl and she will always be remembered and missed.

During her life and after her death so many of you reached out to us; sending us cards, food, money, gifts and, most importantly, love and prayer. We cannot begin to tell you how much each of those things has helped us through this most difficult season of our lives. Thank you, from the depths of our hearts. We are humbled by your generous acts of love and kindness toward our family.

Unless you have faced a similar loss, we understand how difficult it is to know what to say or do. We know that in the months and years to come it may be awkward and difficult interacting with us, especially around special occasions and the upcoming Holidays. We would like to tell you that it is fine to acknowledge our little Lillian and that we even cherish talking about her. Rejoice in her short life. We love her so much and wish to remember her. Talking about her and sharing our love and grief for her at all times and with everyone else we love, will only help us to heal and grow. So please, do not be afraid to mention our baby girl, for she is already a constant in our minds. If we cry you did not upset us, but rather allowed us to express externally how we already feel internally. We know you cannot see her physically, but we carry her with us always.

Much time has passed and you may be surprised that we still grieve every day. We are still learning how to accept that she is gone and simple things remind us of the empty space where she should be. If we laugh please do not assume we are “over it” and if we cry do not fear that we are stuck in our sorrow. Grief is unpredictable. We know this is difficult for you as well and we just ask that you forgive us if we seem absent and forgetful, if we ramble and repeat ourselves, or if we break down and need our space.

We are forever changed. Our joyful times are so much finer and our sorrowful moments immensely deeper. Knowing the Lord is near us and always providing a rock to lean on has been monumental in our healing. That being said, so have you, our friends and family, helped us during this time with kind words, ears to listen, shoulders to cry on and many, many prayers.

We love you all very much and again appreciate everything you have done and continue to do for us. Thank you for loving us and loving our Lillian Hope.

With Warmest Regards,

Casey, Lorri & Isaac Topping

“Sometimes”, said Pooh, “the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

Looking for Purpose in the Pain

I have been feeling numb. I haven't really even been crying very much lately.

I just feel...cold...sad....and angry.

I haven't been able to read very much yet I find myself praying more.

I should read, but I just don't want to put forth the effort, especially when I feel so worn down by the mere thought of the holidays.

I am sleeping more, at least when my son allows it, but I feel more tired than I have in a long time. I want nothing more than to just go back to bed, even if I only got up an hour ago. How blissful it would be to just sleep life away. Well, until the nightmares come anyway.

Winter is getting to me. I can feel the weight of the clouds pressing down on me in the bleak grayness of Ohio winters.

I just want to get away.

When I finally tore myself away from Lilly's lifeless body I told my mother I wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock somewhere and die. Sometimes I still feel that way, though I would never leave my precious boy.

She just said "I know". The same I would say now if a grieving mother said that to me. My mom buried two sons. I'm so sorry mom, I didn't know this was how it felt.

I am so empty. I feel as if I am waiting for something....

What now Lord? Where do we go from here? What do you want us to do? Surely there is some purpose in the pain!? Lord give me purpose.

---

It's been weeks since I wrote this, but I remember opening my current Nancy Guthrie book that same night, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow, and reading "I Have a Purpose in your Pain" as the next chapter title. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or throw the thing in the garbage.

I've been so focused on just getting through every day, I didn't get through it till recently.

I have tried to explain what this passage says countless times but never could get it quite right.

      To experience and exude peace when life is crashing down around you, to have the lightness of joy when the weight of sorrow is heavy, to be grateful for what God had given you when you've lost what is most precious to you—that is God at work on the interior of your life, on display in your life. It is the light of God piercing the darkness of this world. Certainly all this is part of God's purpose for the suffering and sorrow in your life. 

     Sometimes God, in his goodness, draws back the curtain and shows us; we can see how he is using our loss in our lives or in the lives of those around us. And other times we have to wait. Certainly we can never expect to see the complete purposes of God in this life. That is where faith is required....

A friend at church recently approached Casey and I and, after having prayed for us, said he felt as if we were going through a desert but soon God's plans would bloom in our life, like the blossoming of a calla lily. He knew nothing of the wasteland my soul had been wondering and, not knowing us all that well, did not even know Lilly's name, only that we had lost a child earlier this year.

Every time I start to question, God shows up in unexplained and unexpected ways.

Life has been crushingly heavy. Living has been a struggle. Pain is everywhere. I asked Casey just yesterday, "So do you think we just never paid attention to all this suffering before or has this been an unusually tragic year?".

On top of the many funerals we have attended and uncounted couples we have met that lost children in 2012, I know five people with cancer, two of which are children (ages 2 and 12).

Then of course there was the shooting in Connecticut. The pain and screams that rolled through me would paralyze the weak hearted.

Babies being murdered!! My God why?? When will you come Lord?? 

I do not know God's purposes. I do not understand how the all-powerful can allow such cruel injustice, but He has showed Himself to me too many times to give up on Hope.

I would gladly trade peace and grace for the life of my Lillian girl, but what choice do I have? I will find comfort in knowing that she is with the One who defines Love and look for the beauty in the pain.

We often feel like shattered dust and fragments, but He reveals to me how He can turn the pieces of life into a beautiful mosaic masterpiece.

If I will let Him.

So, I continue to look and listen and pray and read; even when it is hard, even when I don't want to and even when I don't see the point. 

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18) 

Still Breathing

Depression.

I loathe the very word.

As if you can put a tidy label on it and manage it.

What is it?

A crushing weight invisible to the eyes but worn by the heart and soul. Boiling, rumbling anger, even hatred, ready to explode at any moment unbeknownst to the carrier. Forever searching in a vast deserted wasteland.

Nothing.

Nothing to live for. Unable to feel. No Hope in sight.

Fear. Desperation. Confusion. Extreme highs and lows.

An uncaring detachment to self, others and the world. No motivation to go on, or even to move or speak.

Sometimes I wonder if it's getting better. Other times I think it would be better to just die and be done with it.

This is tough to hear, I know. It is my reality.

I have days of clarity, of almost joy and considerable strength and vision. I know God has helped me, and it might not make sense, but sometimes I still question God's existence.

Where is HE? Why would He allow life to be so hard? He said the way is easy and the burden is light. Oh really??? I beg to differ.

The pain is so deep, so crushing, so piercing....

I miss you so much! I would give anything, save your brother, to have you back again!! 

I remember begging God to take me instead...as if He is a God who bargains.

My baby! How could you take my baby!? After all I have been through....after all I have prayed for!? Why do you save others and take Lilly? 

Forgive me, I'm having a bad night....

So tired...So alone...God...I need you...please, forgive my unbelief....I....I just want her so badly...to feel her warm skin, tiny hands, little feet....see her sleeping sweetly on my chest and in her crib...to see her eyes....

I never got to see her eyes. I never heard her cry or saw her move.

why???????????????

A song by Mercy Me called The Hurt and the Healer came out right when Lilly died. We played it at her funeral. I stop cold every time I hear it.

One phrase always sticks out to me.
"I'm alive. Even though a part of me has died."

Exactly.

I know I will see her again. I know that God is real even if I cannot understand why He makes it so difficult to believe sometimes.

I have found Hope. I have found the strength to endure. I have learned acceptance and have a patience I never knew.

I take comfort in knowing that she is in a place where pain cannot touch her. I pray always that she is held by the Savior and kissed by angels. I like to imagine that my Uncle Mike sings her songs, my brother Lonnie and her cousins play with her and make her laugh with Grandma watching over them.

However, I cannot deny the paralyzing pain. It pulses through me with every heart beat. The most ridiculous things bring it out with full force.

Just last week I caught myself staring at a notepad I had written on the day I took maternity leave at work. I don't know how long I stayed like that. Hunched over the legal pad with the February date thinking things like; the last time I saw this you were still alive...

Casey and I often talk about how we can't remember what it was like to be happy. What it was like to look forward to the future and wonder at what it might hold, other than heaven of course.

We continue to breath. As the song says "sometimes I feel it's all that I can do". We trudge on. We continue to look to the Lord even when it hurts and do our best to trust Him.

We are Broken yet desperately and sometimes barely still holding on to HOPE!

We are not perfect. We are human and this sucks!!!

Jesus, come and break my fear
Wake my heart and take my tears
Help us Find your glory... even here
I lay my Hurts at your feet
Come and Heal our hearts...

More Than A Song...

I have been sitting on this post for weeks now. I have added and taken away but something always seems wrong or unsaid. How do I put into words the stirring in my heart? How do I explain the profound joy I find in worshiping the Savior when at the same time I question Him for not healing my child? 

I continue to wrestle with guilt, depression and anger because she is gone. The pain does not lessen, we simply learn to make it a part of our lives. When you lose a child, sorrow and pain do not diminish, rather, our strength and endurance grow to sustain it. 

Every day of my life I have to choose to believe. I choose to call Him my Savior, to read His messages, and to allow Him to carry me through my suffering while holding on to Hope.

Since Lilly died, I see the world in a whole new way and my praise has changed.

Every time I say amen. Every time I pray for someone's healing. Every time I lift my hands to praise the One who could have healed her but chose to say "No", it is a sacrifice. It is a physical, spiritual and emotional sacrifice that I pray most of you will never understand, but I will always choose to give.

I will always choose to praise and worship HIM. 

It is the one thing that has no bounds. No matter how mad I am at God, no matter how low I am brought and no matter what injustice the world throws at me, nothing can take His praise from my heart.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

A couple weeks ago I was out jogging, feeling so good that I finally had the desire to try again, when I stopped short because I was so overcome by guilt as I realized I hadn't really cried the day before. So, of course, I immediately broke down, sobbing in the street, apologizing to Lilly because I felt like I was neglecting her. 

Crazy right?

Every day from the night Lilly was born I had cried and I still cry and mourn daily for what could have been. I deal with the whispers that it is my fault; if I were closer to God, if I had prayed harder or listened better she would be with us. Perhaps, but God controls our destiny and I will trust Him. 

Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!" (13:15-16)

I have often wondered at how Job felt about his recompense. Yes he had many more children and ended up twice as wealthy as before, but what about the ones that died? You cannot replace a child in the heart of a parent. He still had to live his days mourning the ones he lost. God gave him new joy in life but Job knew Sorrow and he is a friend that is never forgotten.

I am not Job. I have not lived a blameless life. I still have most of my family, a home and money to live on, but I think I know a little of what it was like for him to bring his sacrifice of praise before the One who allowed Sorrow in his life in the first place.

The Lord really does give and take away.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)

In the dance of this new life, Joy and Sorrow must not only learn to live together, but to become one in the same.

At church one Sunday, as we stood to sing to the Lord, a young mother with a beautiful little baby caught my eye. I felt a familiar ache in my chest as I watched her bounce him around, blissfully happy as only a new mother and child can be. They worshiped together in their own sacred world, perfectly content with one another.

The hot tears burned down my cheeks. It felt like the room was losing air.

That's what I wanted God! I wanted to praise you with joy in my heart and thanksgiving on my lips, not sorrow and acceptance! Halal not Towdah.

Psalm 43

² You are God my stronghold.
    Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?
³ Send me your light and your faithful care,
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you dwell.
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

Believing in Christ and choosing to continue to bless His name does not mean I am over it or grieve my baby girl any less, however, there is a fire that burns in my soul and fills my heart with Hope.

Through praise I have found joy, courage and a determination that I will see her again! Some might think it strange or even sad, but I no longer fear death and even long for it. I am held here by the ones who need me in this life, but I don't know that I will be less than happy when death comes for me. 

Romans 8:1-17

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. ¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I will praise Him because He is God, my Father. I am His and He is mine!

In my family no matter how much we disagree, no matter how bad the fight, at the end of the day we still love each other because we are family. There is nothing (and believe me I've seen it all) that will pull us apart because we belong to each other.

Does God see us like that? I think so. He sees me as a daughter. Never having experienced a loving relationship with my earthly father, I have had a very hard time understanding His fatherly love for me, but I feel it. He is here working through the Holy Spirit in my heart. Christ died that I might know Him! He wants to be close to me. 

Psalm 34:18 says "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit".

I encourage anyone who is reading this. Run to Him! No matter what you have done, what you've been through, or how mad you are at God, run to Him! He will meet you where you are. He loves you.

Psalm 55: 16-17, 22 

As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.  

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you

(Thank God for Kari Jobe! This song has become my anthem)