Hope in the pain....

Today has been an emotional day putting myself in other's shoes as I watched a beautiful young family say goodbye to their one month old.

The difference in a believer's funeral and that of a non-believer is so vast. Today, there was a message of hope in the pain. The young father got up and spoke to the congregation of his tragic loss, but of his love and hope because of his faith in Jesus. He showed such maturity and wisdom that could only come from a real relationship with God and trust that all will work for good.

At a time when it would be easy to choose anger, bitterness and independence from God, he and his young bride showed resolve to continue to bless His name and have hope.

The other night, after finding out about this tragic loss, Noah randomly asks me a faith question. He asks, "when you sin, do you have to ask Jesus to be your forever friend again?" (for Sunday School purposes, they teach salvation as asking Jesus to be their forever friend). I responded that wen you first ask Jesus to be your forever friend you ask him to forgive you of your sins, but you also ask him to come live in your heart. When you sin, you only need to ask for forgiveness cause Jesus doesn't leave your heart unless you ask him to.

A few seconds pass and Noah asks, "why would anyone ever ask Jesus to leave their heart". This young family's loss was fresh in my head, so I explained that a lot of bad things happen in the world and some people get angry with God and choose to blame him for the bad. I explained that the bad isn't Jesus's fault. I explained that we as Christians need to know when the worst things happen, we have to ask Jesus to help us not feel sad, angry and he woul help us"

Amazing the deep questions that can come from a 6-almost-7-yr-old. When I left his room, I had a heavy heart hoping I did okay in tr answering.

Almost a week later, I have seen proof that I gave the right answer. To see this young Family standing up worshiping to "blessed be your name" just feet away from their baby girl's casket is proof to me that no matter how hard something is, no matter how much pain you have, there is hope in Jesus and He will help you get through it.

They ended the funeral by singing "Because He Lives"....I thank God that no matter whAt comes my way, I can face the tomorrow's because He lives and gives me hope!