This week has not been one of my easiest by far. In fact, it has been quite difficult. Elliana has been out of school this week on Spring Break, which, by the way, I am loving. However, it does make my chores around the house more complicated and harder to complete. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed the time together imagining and playing in every corner of our home. I have thanked God in breath prayers throughout this week for little girls who are sisters and who so completely adore one another and love just being together. It's a huge blessing to this momma.
Their interactions with each other cause me to remember and reflect on the times my sister and I played as young girls. I remember some very vivid happenings in our childhood. One specific time I can recall was my sister and I "enjoying" our new Full sized bed which donned a frilly, ruffled canopy just right for two precious little cherubs under which to drift off to dreamland. Except, my sister and I weren't so precious and we didn't drift off to dreamland under our beautiful canopy. We shredded the poor thing and our parent's idea of what little girls were made of in just a few short minutes of jumping on the mattress and punching through the material stretched across slats on the perfect topper to our bed. The whole ordeal ended with corporal punishment for the both of us. (I was very familiar with the concept, but I had introduced my sister to that painful way of life that day.) Sometimes discipline seems worth it for something you really wanted to do, but in this case, we had a lot of fun, but never got to truly enjoy our new treat. I digress. Did I mention, we had only had this beautiful piece of furniture for a few hours before we destroyed it? My poor parents! I'm so sorry, Mom & Dad.
Anyway. My sister and I share a lot of memories and moments that no one else on this planet will ever know or understand. And, I treasure those. My sister knows me like no one ever will for she was my first friend and still is my very best friend. My doubts, my fears, my shortcomings, my tendencies, my sins, my successes, my dreams: She knows so well and still loves me. My sister is just about the sweetest, most tenderhearted person I know. Those of you reading this who know my sister, know this about her as well. A better person in this life I have never known. Please don't think for a moment that she might tell you she is great or that she's worthy of this pedestal in my heart. She's also humble in spirit and offers every word of praise about her to the Lord for His glory.
In short, I love my sister and no one ever could take her place in my life.
My sister & some of my precious friends, the Mackey family, suffered loss this week that in this life we will probably not have the answer for the "whys". Miscarriage and death are not uncommon and are even inevitable while living in this fallen world. But, suffering is hard to understand and grasp for a lowly mind like mine. The Lord holds those answers and we simply must trust that His way is best no matter how difficult. We couldn't control it. We couldn't fix it. And there was no escape from it. We must just remember to whom we are tethered for eternity and trust Him to carry us through it.
My sister has, so beautifully & so gracefully, walked through this time of trial praising God for the blessing of two little girls living under her roof who have intense love for each other just like she and I did & do. She rejoices for life given to her and allows God to take what is His back unto His bosom without complaint. I wish you all could hear her talk about what God has done. I know that through this she has pressed in and allowed God to minister to her and because of that has already gained more knowledge of Him and is trusting Him in a way that I might never. I am blessed again. Wow! What a great God to love my sister so intimately and so perfectly. He, like a surgeon, is precise with the instruments and methods He uses to draw us to His heart. I am more grateful for this than ever I have been before this week.
Do you know how terribly fond I am of Spring and gardening? I absolutely adore getting dirt under my fingernails while planting seedlings and plants this time of year! Seeds are more difficult for me to get excited about because of the time they take to mature and become something beautiful to look upon. When a flower dies it leaves behind seeds for the next generation. There is so much application you can almost reach out and grab right here. Good things come up from the ground when something dies. Death, literally, leaves behind seeds. Seeds that fall on good soil, cultivated and ready, spring up and eventually in time show beauty. How precious a thought! The Lord has made us understand that most difficult thing to understand in an easier more palatable way. Seeds from death are still very difficult for me to get excited about. I even kind of dread it in a way. I do not like death. No one does. The seeds help us to see, however, that no matter how bad death is, we have hope. Death does not sting the way it used to for those who belong to God by the gift of salvation Jesus offered us. It's not a closed book matter anymore because of Him. He defeated death and brings life up from it through His power shown in resurrection from the grave! Highest Praise!
I will plant seeds this year against my back fence in remembrance that hope springs up after tragedy. I won't dread them. I will embrace them. Death brought those seeds to me. I will watch them grow into something beautiful and thank God for the grace given to me through seeds.
