Let the Children Come

A little girl, age 8, and a boy, age 11, lost their mother. Pain. Sadness. Unbearable. Beth, the mom, battled pancreatic cancer for 11 months before it took her life. Cancer. Thief. Killer. A disease that ravages the body by both nature and cure. Not easy. Not right. Not fair.

There's just not much good to say about it...or is there? See, that's the amazing thing! There is so much good that comes from the difficulty, the wrongness, the unfairness of it all. Does it still hurt? Absolutely. But is there good? Definitely. Sometimes you have to look for it. Sometimes it's right there in front of you.

So, my daughter is 8 as well and because of this I get to hang out with the little girl mentioned above. I was with her Saturday. I was with her Wednesday. I am with her now. I can't really put into words the way I feel when I look at her. It's almost as if I'm searching for glimpses into her soul and I can't really get over the fact that inside her (and outside her) are pieces of her mother, whom I miss very much.

What I can express though, is the life she brings to her surroundings. That she and her brother are good things in the midst of all the darkness. When I watch them, I see a strength that only comes from faith. Jesus said let them come. Beth and her husband, Dave, took them and sat with them at the feet of the Savior. And because of this, though they've been handed this awful tragic experience they will breathe life, love, and Jesus into others. They will find and be good and light in all this darkness.

So when they come, watch them and you will see it too.