Who Am I?

Thoughts I'm willing to share.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Lord Gives and He Has Taken Away

I have not really been to very many funerals in my life. It's a blessing. Yesterday I went to a funeral for a 7 year old student from my school. I worked with her last year when she was in Kindergarten. Hayley was one of the sweetest little girls you could ever meet and her smile was one that would light up a room, everyone who spoke at the funeral commented on her smile.

Her death was very unexpected. She had strepp throat with a low body temperature. Her parents took her to the emergency room and they sent her home. At home, she had a seizure and died. I can't imagine. Her poor parents were so grief stricken. There is a fund set up at Washington Mutual to help her family with expenses.

The minister who was in charge of the service was "good", if anyone can be good at funerals for children. He had a wonderful "object lesson" about God making a bouquet for the heavenly table an He wanted a variety of the most beautiful flowers possible so He chose mature full flowers and on Tuesday, He chose a precious little bud to create His bouquet. I liked that story. However, I didn't like when the minister talked of God's "good" plan and how it doesn't make sense to us etc.. I get that on some level. I agree with that on some level. We're not in charge. However, it felt inconsiderate to me. Of course, it's God's plan but there is NO WAY any of us can understand that. There is NO WAY to see how God will bring "good" out of this right now or probably ever. I wondered if it's required funeral talk to say those things. Can't we focus on God's comfort? Can't we focus on God's love and eternal promise?

Please pray for Hayley's family. Her father buried her yesterday, the day before Father's Day. Love your children dearly.