Chinese Buffet: All You Kan Eat
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Blessings
I have felt so blessed this week, with memories of things of the past, and thankfulness for things of the present.
The passing of my great-grandmother has reminded me of many blessings. Those blessings of the present are God's great grace in her life. She lived to be 100. I can't even imagine. I'm not even 25 yet, and that would only be a quarter of the amount of time she had on earth. And even more blessed, is that God took her to be with him very peacefully. What a beautiful thing it is to celebrate a life that has always shown God's grace, even unto death. I praise Him that she is home with the Lord, and though I wish I could be with my extended family tomorrow in memorializing that, I know that they will see God's glory in this time of mourning and rejoicing.
There are many celebrations that take place in the course of human life. Birth, the celebration of a life that is yet to be lived; marriage, the celebration of two lives that will now live together; and death, the celebration of a life that has been lived. Of course, the sadness of a funeral arises from the use of the past tense. Yes, it is a beautiful thing that a life has been lived. But it is also a sad thing that a life has been taken away. But God is not bound by time or tenses. Believers, at the funeral of another believer, have the hope of experiencing and celebrating all three tenses in the English language: the past, the present, and the future. They can praise God for his past actions in the life of this dear friend, they can praise God that the dear friend is now with the Lord, free of pain and sorrow, and they can praise God for His future presence in life everlasting.
So tomorrow, I celebrate a life that has been lived--and one that has brought me many blessings, I might add; I celebrate a life that is living, free of a 100 year old body; and I celebrate a life that will continue to live, for eternity.
Of course, all these are things that I have "known," but what an exercise in faith to have practiced them in the last month, first with Heidi and David, and now with my great grandmother. Both cases stem from very different circumstances, but both point to the same God.
The same God that is currently blessing me with life, and a very wonderful one at that, I might add. I am reading "Les Miserables" right now, by Victor Hugo, and it is such a beautiful story. Hugo, at one point in speaking of love, says, "To love is the only thing that can occupy and fill up eternity. The infinite requires the inexhaustible." I am thankful that God has blessed me with an abundance of love from family, friends, and my dear husband. I am thankful that God's love for me is inexhaustible. And I am still more thankful that I get to spend an eternity filled with inexhaustible love for my Savior.
The passing of my great-grandmother has reminded me of many blessings. Those blessings of the present are God's great grace in her life. She lived to be 100. I can't even imagine. I'm not even 25 yet, and that would only be a quarter of the amount of time she had on earth. And even more blessed, is that God took her to be with him very peacefully. What a beautiful thing it is to celebrate a life that has always shown God's grace, even unto death. I praise Him that she is home with the Lord, and though I wish I could be with my extended family tomorrow in memorializing that, I know that they will see God's glory in this time of mourning and rejoicing.
There are many celebrations that take place in the course of human life. Birth, the celebration of a life that is yet to be lived; marriage, the celebration of two lives that will now live together; and death, the celebration of a life that has been lived. Of course, the sadness of a funeral arises from the use of the past tense. Yes, it is a beautiful thing that a life has been lived. But it is also a sad thing that a life has been taken away. But God is not bound by time or tenses. Believers, at the funeral of another believer, have the hope of experiencing and celebrating all three tenses in the English language: the past, the present, and the future. They can praise God for his past actions in the life of this dear friend, they can praise God that the dear friend is now with the Lord, free of pain and sorrow, and they can praise God for His future presence in life everlasting.
So tomorrow, I celebrate a life that has been lived--and one that has brought me many blessings, I might add; I celebrate a life that is living, free of a 100 year old body; and I celebrate a life that will continue to live, for eternity.
Of course, all these are things that I have "known," but what an exercise in faith to have practiced them in the last month, first with Heidi and David, and now with my great grandmother. Both cases stem from very different circumstances, but both point to the same God.
The same God that is currently blessing me with life, and a very wonderful one at that, I might add. I am reading "Les Miserables" right now, by Victor Hugo, and it is such a beautiful story. Hugo, at one point in speaking of love, says, "To love is the only thing that can occupy and fill up eternity. The infinite requires the inexhaustible." I am thankful that God has blessed me with an abundance of love from family, friends, and my dear husband. I am thankful that God's love for me is inexhaustible. And I am still more thankful that I get to spend an eternity filled with inexhaustible love for my Savior.
posted by M. J. at 7:00 PM
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