It's Not Supposed to Happen Like This

Forgive me for being the Debbie Downer today, but I'm a little sad and I need to tell someone. It's not supposed to happen like this....parents are not supposed to have to say goodbye to their children.

Within the past week, two sweet families I know have each had to say goodbye to one of their precious children. Whether expected or unexpected, the result of a medical diagnosis or an accident, it doesn't really matter....it always feels awful and seems terribly wrong. I grieve for my friends, for what they have lost, for the graduations and weddings and grandchildren that won't happen. Yet, there are a few moments when my brain kicks in and I remember that these loved ones are now sitting at the feet of Jesus. They are seeing "face to face" the God who made them, loved them and knew the day that He would bring them home. I am thankful that they have been relived of all on this earth that bound them and are now the complete fullness of who God made them to be. And I'm sure it's magnificent.

Still another parent has said goodbye to her child....not because they were taken, but because they were given. That parent is my child's birth mother....that child is my little girl. It's not supposed to happen like this. The world shouldn't be this unbalanced. Poverty and oppression don't have to exist. People don't have to die of treatable illnessess. It doesn't have to be this way.

So what will I do with all this? I will tell my friends and family that I love them- because I do. I'll give more hugs. I may snuggle the babies at work a little bit longer. I will do what I can to work toward ending poverty and oppression. I will be thankful for what I have. I will praise God that He is good, His love is never ending and this world is not all there is. That's what I will do.