Glory in Tragedy

I don't think we could have fit anything else into this weekend had we tried.  A pasta dinner for 30 high school tennis girls, a baby shower (with two-week old baby), a graduation/ birthday party, a tennis quad, a family reunion, church, dinner out, and... the wake for a fourteen year old.

Her death was instant. There was no warning. There was nothing that could have been done.  It could not have been prevented.  Her life could not have been saved.  No one is at fault.

Yet a fourteen year old is dead.

In all honesty, I don't know how non-Christians cope with tragedies like this.  Even with hope and a loving God, it's hard to bury a fourteen year old who seemed healthy one minute and gone the next.

Is our God not a loving God who cares for His children? I don't just mean Emily. What about her family? Her parents? Her older sister? Her friends whose home she was walking home from? Fifty minutes worth of drivers who drove down that busy street without noticing her unconscious and not breathing on the sidewalk? Her classmates about to enter high school without her?

Tough questions.

But I believe Emily was not alone on that sidewalk. God was with her every step of her walk home; she just arrived at a different Home than would have been expected. Even though her body was kept breathing for two days, Emily was immediately delivered into the loving arms of her Creator.

The same God that cradles their precious daughter, holds tight to Emily's parents giving them the strength to host mourners in their home, the ability to make jokes and even laugh a little as the receiving line weaved through the funeral home and out into the parking lot. He holds their tears, their hands, and their hearts.

He will be glorified, even though this situation our human eyes see as tragic and incomprehensible. That is my prayer.

It’s the only thing I can pray.  And I was just a student, nine years ahead of her at the same school.

<>< Katie

The Christmas Miracle

Our motto for this family get together has been, "It's a Christmas miracle!"  The pants I bought you actually fit?  It's a Christmas miracle!  You guys made it here safely through the snow?  It's a Christmas miracle!  You found some extra dipping sauce in the back of the fridge?  It's a Christmas miracle!

It's been a bit overkill.  Don't get me wrong, I love acknowledging everyday miracles but "Christmas Miracle" is kind of a term already on reserve.

A few days before Christmas 2006, we received a phone call from my grandma.  Our family friend Arnie, 81, had a seizure during dinner.  He vomited, aspirated, and earned himself a flight for life ride to the intensive care unit.

While the rest of the world was preparing for a joyful holiday, we were preparing for the worst.  Decisions were to be made on December 26.  The decision was that life support would be terminated the following day after everyone had the opportunity to say goodbye to a warm hand. 

The following morning, my dad received a wake-up call asking him to make the drive to be with them.  While he was showering my grandma called back.  She had to hand the phone to my grandfather because she was crying too hard to talk to my mom.  They were tears of joy.  Arnie was awake, sitting up, and by that afternoon he was asking for a drink.

Arnie lived for eight more months before he passed away peacefully.  There was no reason he should have survived that December.  His funeral was planned!  Even my agnostic grandparents admitted it was a Christmas Miracle.

Sometimes God works in life-saving miracles and sometimes He works through everyday miracles.  The question becomes, will we acknowledge them?

I pray you all had a miraculous Christmas, my friends.

<>< Katie