Gripping.

Last night I clicked over to my email inbox and had a few messages from some of my CA Nitty.Gritty. readers. They were each moved by a local story, and I just had to share it and my thoughts with all of you.
This story is gonna grab you. It will rip your heart out. If you have loved or lost someone in your lifetime, you will connect.
I was moved to tears last night; I fell alseep crying and praying for this family; they were the first ones on my heart and mind when I awoke.
The news story is here. And another one here. The family memorial site is here. There are no words to offer them any source of comfort at this time. Nothing. I lost Teagan and lost the childhood Wyndham should have had...and all the things she may never do because of her head injuries. I've had my share of moments of despair, I've spent all day in tears at times, but nothing I have experienced can begin to wrap my mind around the all-consuming grief and heartache that these parents, Chris and Lori, will have to bear for the rest of thier lives.
I am writing all this, not to 'glamorize' their story or to turn their kids into 'celebrities' of my blog, but to say it the best I can. This could be you. Or you. Or you or even you. It's what I have been telling people since the day of our incident- that life has no guarantees. The unexpected can come from out of nowhere. This time it was a perfectly, sunny California day, just after noon, on the slowed freeway.
I wrote about it here, when I asked what would you do if disaster struck you? Do you have a 'disaster plan' in place should the unimaginable occur? I can think of only One thing that will carry this family and friends through the darkest valley that life can lead them through. That is faith in the One who created the valley; the One who has walked through the valley; and the Only One I know who can bring you through life's valleys. God can't be to blame, even though it makes no sense in our human minds why something like this had to happen. It has been my experience that "bad stuff" happens, and we can't begin to know why...but we simply in faith, must trust. That's what's faith is. It is telling God that you don't understand His ways, you may not even like them at times, they will hurt, they will cause pain, they will not make sense, and yet, all God asks from any of us is that we simply trust Him to be true. We need not have answers. We don't even have to be 'strong' or 'holy' or 'perfect' all the time. We can and are expected to cry at times, to be angry at times, to have questions, to ask questions, to want to run the other way, to be afraid, to be confused, to be numb, to be hurt. BUT, if we constantly give all that we are to God...even if it's just a messed up, broken shell of who we are, God will take the pieces of us, and in some miraculous way, He begins to make sense out of our horror. He can bring beauty out of ahses. He can bring Joy out of overwhelming grief.
I can't explain it. I can't begin to tell you how He does it or why it has to be this way in life, but I can tell you that it is REAL. It 's what God has been doing since Adam and Eve sinned and messed things up for the rest of all for all time.
God has a plan. It's told about and is continually unfolding according to the way He said it would happen in the Bible. At times of pain and sorrow, it may seem that God has forgotten us in the middle of that plan, but the truth is He is the same- yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Bible says that God is good. It also tells us that He never changes. Therefore, no matter how difficult the circumstance, no matter how horrific the pain, no matter if it's ourselves or someone else that 'messed up' our lives, we can trust that God can use whatever it is, and make something beautiful out of the mess. Every single time.
The problem lies not in the pain and the mess and the sadness and the unbelievable-ness, but in the response of our hearts when the unimaginable occurs. THAT is what makes the difference between joy and sorrow. Between recovery and 'death'. Between overcoming and defeat. Between living a life with meaning, or simply getting by.
I cannot begin to know what it will take for the Cobles to be able to see light and happiness in life once again. I do not know that they have what it takes. But I am praying that they will hand their hurt, their pain, their sorrow, their shattered, broken hearts and all the hopes and dreams they had for their beautiful little children, to God, and simply allow Him to hold their lives in His hands. It won't be easy. It will demand their hearts, their minds, their souls. But I believe that there is something amazing, something unbelievable, something that can only be described as a 'miracle' ready to happen in their lives.
Please join me in prayer for this family, as they begin this journey toward finding their miracle.