The Journey

As I sit down to write this post, a quote comes to mind. I have heard many times before that "life is often about the journey." Of course, our destination is important, but often how we get there makes all the difference in the world. And the passing of our baby, was a very definitive part of our journey. Here are some first thoughts from this part of our journey.

First, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the pr@yers and love you have shown our family as we have/are processing the death of Baby Fleming. The Father has used you in many ways--through truths  from His Word, through song lyrics, and through your own stories of personal experience. Thanks for your realness and willingness to share in our sufferings.  Truly, it is a beautiful thing to see the Body being the Body!

And honestly, G o d has shown us so much grace...more abundantly than I could have ever imagined. I imagine losing a child, whatever age they are---whether they are 8 weeks, 8 years, or 38 years---would be devastating. As I (MP) journaled about our baby's passing a few days after we received the news, I had several statements that were very real, yet the Father gently had a truth from His Word to show me in response. My heart was breaking, but He had a plan to heal. G o d is good :)

1. I said, "I will never get to hear our baby laugh or cry."
He said, "{Their} frame was not hidden from Me,
 when {they} were being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ My eyes saw {their} unformed substance;
in My book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for {them},
    when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139: 15-16)

2. I said, "Why did my baby have to die?"

He said, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways My ways...
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are My ways higher than your ways
    and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

3. I said, "I can't stop thinking about our circumstances."

He said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

There were many more questions in my mind that I won't share now, but the point being: He is faithful! And He continues to remind us that sometimes, though He allows suffering, it is for our good and His glory.  1 Peter 1:6-7 has been an encouragement to my heart recently: 

"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

We are still on the journey, and I know we have much to learn, but for now we are content resting in the knowledge of Him who knows all our ways and makes our paths straight. Blessings to you!