It’s Wednesday. I am sitting on my back deck, working – typing, replying to emails, scheduling things. On Friday, I was doing the same thing. The weather has been lovely, so I have taken advantage of the fresh air.
Except on Friday, I was a different person than I am today.
Today I don’t have the same smile I had on Friday. My eyes are puffy from the amount of tears I’ve cried in the past few days. I am struggling to see past the pain and the trauma that I experienced over the weekend. It feels like the world should stop moving with me, for just a minute. That this Wednesday shouldn’t feel the same as last Friday, all around me. My heart aches and my whole body feels it. But on Friday, everything was ok.
Have you ever experienced a pain like that? A trauma that changed your world in an instant?
I can now say that I have. But can I tell you the two things that have given me any hope for the future and any comfort in my pain? Jesus and the church. Read those two things again with me: Jesus and the church. I know, with no doubt in my mind, that Jesus hasn’t left or forsaken me in my pain. He weeps with me. He loves me and cares for me. And one day, He may show me a reason for this suffering. And the church – the people in my life that care for me deeply. Those people that show up for you with prayers, messages, meals, and hugs. The people that make you realize how important a community is and how if you have an urge to reach out to someone or do something kind for them, you just should. It may make a whole world of difference for them. It may not stop the world, for even a minute, but to rest in God and find comfort from His church will be enough to pull you through tragedies and really terrible, hard stuff. Because in reality, we live in a broken world but if we keep believing we will live in a perfect world - in Heaven - with Him one day. And what a glorious day that will be.
-Carly, who is singing on repeat "I've still got joy in chaos,
I've got peace that makes no sense"