The last several weeks have been a bittersweet time and I am realizing how special and difficult this season can be. At church we have received the news of several people with advanced stage cancer... recent diagnoses. How do you walk through this time with someone you care about? There is so little to say or do, and yet we continue to trust that God still is in complete control. Can God be trusted with or without complete healings? Intellectually, I say "yes," but my human side still struggles.
I have been following the blog of a college friend (just a year older than I am), who was recently (in September) diagnosed with kidney cancer. She and her husband adopted 3 children, the most recent little girl just came home from Vietnam 2 weeks ago. Even now, her husband is doing a bedside vigil as his wife's organs struggle to function. Friends were saying goodbye on Saturday and still today she lives, facing the possibility of losing her fingers and toes. I can't imagine the emotions of her husband, loving his wife and desiring the best for her... even if that means saying goodbye. His faith remains strong. What does it mean to face death and trust that as life?
I have a good friend, who longs for a child of her own and yet it has not happened. What does faith mean in the face of a desire so deep it is almost physical? Especially at this time of year when we talk about the light of the world being born as a baby. Can the Christmas Story bring hope despite the sorrow?
Yet, that is the reality, sorrow and lost lives side by side with hope and life. My cousin is expecting the arrival of her little boy any day now. Several friends have just shared with us the good news of coming babies. There are family gatherings to look forward to, unseasonably warm days to enjoy... sunshine, the laughter of children. Even now, my daughter sings "Jingle Bells" in her crib as I wait for her afternoon nap to begin. How can it be... all of this existing together this side of eternity?
Yet, this is the story of Christmas... a baby born to die... in order that we all can live. Truly live. May you experience the bittersweet of Christmas. May God's love and peace fill the places of sorrow and of joy.
2 comments:
Amen.
What a truth-filled meditation for me this morning.
I too have been remembering God's faithfulness to draw me close and deal tenderly with my heart in the midst of life's most difficult challenges--past and present.
What would we do without the hope and grace of Christ our Savior?
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