-B- Faithful!

I'm feeling much better after having my little public blog meltdown the other day.  Things have taken place around here to shift my focus right back to loving my kids like crazy. In fact, for the last 2 days, I can't seem to get enough of them. 

We had a tragedy happen to a family of one of my Daughter's friends this week.  My daughter is 5 and one of her classmates younger siblings (3) passed away on Tuesday from complications of a tonsillectomy.  I never even knew there could be life threatening complications from this type of surgery.  He was recovering at home several days after the surgery and suddenly didn't feel well. He got sick and by the time 911 had been called and arrived, he was gone.  No one saw it coming, it didn't make sense, and they are still working to find out what really happened. 

His Mother had been worried about him for a few days because he wasn't recovering as well as his Brother, but the Doctor wasn't concerned with his symptoms.  The recovery for a tonsillectomy is rough anyway and differs from kid to kid, so she trusted that her Doctor knew best and tried her best to comfort her child.  I hate that it ended the way that it did. 

Like I said, it just doesn't make sense.  It's times like this that people in general are tempted to question God's role in all this.  Why would God take the life of a vibrant, healthy, 3 year old boy that was part of a lovely family including amazing parents?  Why would he be ok with that faithful family having to suffer a loss such as this?

It's a hard question to answer.  I by no means am a bible scholar therefore I'm unable to pull out my good book and point you to the scripture that says why its ok.  I am however, extremely faithful through experiencing painful things myself that God only makes us experience pain such as this in order to grow us as Christians and to bless something or someone through the experience, and the blessings usually occur much later when you've just about given up on making sense of it all.

A dear friend of mine sent me a quote yesterday from a Christian question answer website (www.gotquestions.org) that she references on a regular basis. I like the answer for this particular situation........

In the garden of Eden, God spoke to Adam and communicated in clear and direct ways, not in abstract concepts. God speaks to us today in the same way. In some ways, this is the most important meaning to be found in any tragedy. Tragic events demonstrate much of their meaning in the way we react to them. C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” This does not mean that God causes tragedy, but that He uses our reaction to tragedy to speak to us. Tragic events remind us not only that we live in an imperfect and fallen world, but that there is a God who loves us and wants something better for us than the world has to offer.

This gives me comfort that while today this tragedy doesn't make sense......it was always in God's plan for Trevor.  Good will come from this.  Trevor is an angel in heaven looking down and will be thrilled to see the fruits that arise from this tragedy work to do good in the future and bless those that he touched while on this Earth.

His memory is already touching those around him.  I've made several new friends in the past few days just working together with a community of Mom's that want to help this sweet family.  It has given us a reason to bond on a level that would have taken much more time without something to bring us together like this.  I needed to explain to my Daughter and Sons what had happened because we know these kids and we see them.  They won't understand what happened and I was afraid they would hear it from some other child or would notice and relentlessly ask me in a moment where discussing it wasn't appropriate.  So, we talked about it.  My boys had tons and tons of questions about death and the surgery and why his body is still here if he has been taken to heaven.  It doesn't make sense to them either.  However, when we were done, my Brooks said that he wanted to die too.  I was super concerned and asked him why.  He said that he wanted to be an angel up in heaven with Trevor.  He knows that Heaven is the best place ever and he wants to be an Angel up there as soon as possible. 

I tried to explain to him that God will take each of us when it is our time.  It was Trevor's time on Tuesday, and Brooks will get to join him whenever God sees fit.  I pray that is a long long time away, but if not, I am sure that just like this family, my faith will bring me though it. 

I pray for this sweet family tonight that they find peace in the fact that Trevor is with his God and that he is smiling bigger and is happier than he has ever been here on this Earth.  His Mommy and Daddy will meet him again someday when it is their time and they will live forever together in Heaven. 

I have faith in that for sure!

-B-