A verse that I have been meditating on recently is found in 2 Samuel 7:18, "Who am I, Sovereign lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"
And this is truely how I have felt even before studying this verse in our David Bible study, by Beth Moore. I feel so humbled and honored that God decided to bring us this far, given our circumstances. Luke and I say to eachother ALL the time, "We would never be at this place with the Lord had it not been for the death of our sweet Brady." I would never want to go back to that time, but am so thankful that we have come so far, only by the grace of God. So as hard as that is to go through, it produces perseverance and character that would not have come about. Who am I... that He would show so much peace and grace to me? I don't deserve that, but He loves me so much to carry us through hard times, in no other way possible.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. " Romans 5:3-5
I have been reading through Mary Beth Chapman's book the past few weeks, about their story of loosing their daughter, and it brings back so many real thoughts and feelings. And even though all of our stories are different, they are all quite similar. I guess that is the process of grief. And also the way God carries us through our trials...because he is God of love, peace, strength, grace, and healing.
So in light of thanksgiving, right around the corner, I wanted to say I am thankful for the circumstances I have gone through, because I have a deeper love for Christ than ever before! God is good!
Well put. I must say Seth & I feel the same way about losing Gideon. We are coming up on 6 year and my how it has changed us... In a good way and it's brought us so much closer to each other & to God. Not that we wanted it to end how it did. We wouldn't trade it for anything because it's made us who we are.
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