Peace in His Hands

If the past week and a half have shown me anything about life, it’s that it is fragile. The loss of a friend and her son, the tragedy in Japan, and the devastation experienced by my family in Alabama yesterday have left me emotionally weak, drained, and exasperated.

My faith, unfortunately, has always been something that waivers at the first sign of bad news. Questions of WHY fill my heart and my head when something unfortunate happens that I can’t seem to wrap my mind around. Why me? Why us? Why Now? I struggle. I really do. I know that times of faith are placed in our lives to grow our faith and test our reliance on Christ.

And this week and last, I have finally found comfort in resting in that knowledge and that peace.

Maybe it was the outpouring of love I saw when Brittany and her son passed away last week. Maybe it was the immediate aide I saw being sent to the people of Japan to help her get back on her feet. Maybe it was the indescribable amount of support, love and prayers I received yesterday from all of you when I wrote about my parents & their loss. Whatever it was, I have found peace and rest in the Almighty.

I’m seeing more than ever that we can’t escape God. We can’t escape fate. We can’t hide behind our fancy cars, our expensive name brands, or our mountains of “stuff.” He’s there. He’s always there. And he has a plan. We can’t bypass his will. We can’t bribe him into changing his mind. We’re on a journey toward a destination that only he knows. A destination that starts—and stops, when HE is ready for it.

My heart still aches for my friend and her family. My heart is breaking for my own family right now; wishing I could do more to help…wishing I could change things.

But I can’t.

All I can do is rest and be faithful in knowing that all things—big and small, lie in his mighty hands.

I’ve had an overwhelming amount of emails from my readers about the situation with my family and what they can do to help. I’ve set up a page, with a section for monetary donations [as per reader request]. I’ll be updating it every few days. You can find it HERE. And in the sidebar under “Project Family.” Thank you all, wholeheartedly for your willingness to help.