Thinking of him today.

   

Happy birthday in heaven Todd.

   She sat staring at his picture.  How could he really be gone. But life was all too real, she knew it to be truth, as it had been almost four years since she felt the warmth of his hand in hers.  How she longed for one more conversation with him. One where he could communicate back.  That had all been stolen away.  Though only gone four years, his communication had been gone long before that.  

     In these years when they looked forward to doing the things they had always dreamed of, she sat alone, knowing this was not part of their dreams.  Widowhood was not in the plan at all.  They use to have teeshirts that said, “Two are better than one, for if one falls, the other is there to pick them up.” Now there was no one left to help her up when she fell down.  The kids did their best in sending love and encouraging words like, “Mom, you can do this, you can make it.”  She felt his love through them. 

    She thought about how her life was almost robbed of these precious children, a product of their love.  They stood long and hard on God’s Word, knowing God wanted them to raise a family in His ways.  But years after year, it looked hopeless.  God finally stepped in, and three miracles were born, a fourth growing up in heaven.  She had experienced God’s faithfulness.

    So she knows that even though she sits alone, God will be faithful to her.  She will make it through.  She knows the strength she has found walking through this dark valley, is one that can be shared to encourage others to make it through their valley too.  

(Sometimes I find myself writing in third person.)