Earthen Vessels

"For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness" is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels"

We are a treasure to God and to each other. And yes, we are earthen vessels and we break. We age, we fall apart, we get sick, we have accidents and we die.

And yet God has chosen to move through time with us, even though He is not governed by time. He is moving through this grief and hurt with us. I know this by experience and I know this by faith, when I can not sense Him or hear His words. He is there.

I can trust Him with my family, with my daughter during those harsh, difficult times in our lives this past year. When the deep disappointment, hurt and sorrow, shattered plans and dreams almost overwhelm us and threaten to undo us. He is there.

I love my family. We are close. We depend on each other; it is the way it should be. And during this past year we have bonded together even more and I am encouraged by God's grace. I am proud of my sons as they embrace their sister's pain and come to her aid. They can not take Christian's place but they have surrounded her with love and concern and their presence. I'm proud of my husband who comes along side Elizabeth to provide counsel, encouragement, technical assistance in her new home and a steady hand on the tiller of our family's life.

I pray for our Wisconsin family as we are apart during this milestone in our journey through shared grief. Thank you for Christian, for his life with Elizabeth, for his showing us how to appreciate moments in our lives to the maximum. He was a treasure that we shared briefly.

And I can understand Paul's viewpoint and encouragement:

"We are perplexed but not in despair,
We are cast down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8,9

Thanks be to God!