I never cease to be humbled by the beautiful, pain-laced stories I hear from fellow child-loss parents. Just received a note from a woman who lost her toddler son in an innocent but traumatic way that would trigger the mama guilt of any parent, no matter how unjustified.
Yet this mama continues to live the life that is hers to live--right in the midst of unspeakable sorrow. She cares for her other young children, clings to her marriage, and looks to the future with hope, adding to her beautiful family-to-be, all the while grieving the family-that-once-was.
These words she wrote:
God is good, even in our pain. Experience holds this to be solid truth, even when we don't understand his purpose.
Some experiences never will make sense to our human understanding of how life should work. This side of heaven, we are left wondering and often bleeding. But we can choose to wonder--as this incredible woman is doing--with hearts that are real and honest and raw, and with our hands open to God, to love, to the life that remains ours to live.
No circumstance can rob us of the life yet to be lived--a life that can be beautiful still.