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Can You Hear Me Now?

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Her Parents

I was in church on Sunday and we were singing and I was thinking about the words...and then a chorus of Hallelujahs began. There is something about the sound of a building full of Hallelujahs to God that amazes me. I spent a few minutes just closing my eyes and listening to the chorus and imagined God hearing us.

Then I looked to the front row of chairs and there is this couple. They are praising and worshipping without abandon. She's a tiny little thing, no more than 5 foot and maybe 90 pounds soaking wet. He's a bigger burly man, over 6 foot and 200 pounds or better. They keep to themselves. They have been a fixture on that front row for as long as I've been attending this church. They have always been very expressive in worship. They are HER Parents.

SHE is attending a college just north of here. She serves as a missionary and travels with her college to various places to help in whatever way she can. She loves people and she loves life! I've never met her personally, but have heard about her.

A few weeks ago, SHE was traveling home and was killed in an automobile crash. She was 19 or 20 years old. She was too young to die...or so it seemed.

Her parents 'spoke' through a letter to the church when it happened and they expressed their complete peace about her current place among angels, dancing with her Father God in fields of grace. They were torn apart by their own loss but so at ease with her new home. I have watched them since that week and while there are times they struggle to maintain during services that reach that 'loss spot', they always praise and worship with total abandon.

I wonder if somehow they are singing and dancing along with her. Her parents remind me (when I choose to remember) that there is ALWAYS time to praise and worship God.

There is a quote I love and I don't know the source, but I'm using an altered version of it here because it applies:

Life is God's gift to us,
How we use that life is our gift to God.

Let's use our life well!

6 comments:

Just Me said...

Wow....now that's powerful. Makes me think of how many times, I usedto praise and worship, only when I felt like it. The enemy had me believing I was a hypocrite if I worshipped when my heart was breaking. I learned to ignore 'him'..and worshipped anyways, and it brought 'release' and healing to me, in ways I'd never known before. To be able to worship like this, in the midst of loss, is inspiring. My sister-in-law was the same way -single mom, whose oldest girl, just married 9 months and who was two months pregnant, was killed in a car accident . She praised too. I can't help but wonder if she, and 'they' were people who had learned praise God in everything BEFORE tradgey....and so when tradegy struck...they already knew where 'life' was! Anyways...tahnks for sharing!

Dawn said...

What a beautiful story. So touching. Just beautiful!

tam said...

LOVE you and MISS you...been thinking of you a great deal this weekend...

This is a real reminder that no matter what we go through in this life, God never changes and we MUST continue to praise Him, sadly, (and wonderfully) the loss of a child is not the exception.

thank you for sharing of this couple's continued dependence on Jesus despite their pain.

Sally said...

such a long time since I've surfed by, but I so needed to read this today.... my son Chris is 22, every day is a bonus, he has a major heart condition, when he was small he spoke about running without pain in heaven, so I can truly relate to this post.

Unknown said...

Such a beautiful and moving post. Thank you for sharing that!

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful sharing!