This week has been spent furiously trying to make Veronica's 5th birthday party (in our backyard) as special as possible. Amy has taken so much time to plan the activities, send the invitations, gather the supplies, freshen up the house, and she still somehow found the time to brew a fresh pot of coffee this morning before heading to the store to pick up more supplies. I have no idea how she does it!
In the midst of these preparations, we are also mourning the tragic loss of another child who drowned near her home on Sunday. Today we planted a tree in her memory outside our school entrance.
Sometimes God's plan is such a mystery! How can a small, precious little girl be ripped from the arms of her family at such a young age?
Seeing the mix of joy and pain in the faces of my colleagues as we planted that tree made me realize that much more was planted than that tree.
The symbols that we use to remember our love for one another invoke the very presence of God. He was there with us, gathered around that fragile little tree. He wept with us for Ashley, not because He was confused by her death, but because we were in pain. In the planting of the tree He spoke to us about how the very life of that little girl was, is, and will be a tiny seed that is already bearing fruit both here and in eternity.
Ashley, precious little girl now resting in the arms of the Almighty, pray to God for us sinners in the time of our weakness. May she rest in peace, freed from all suffering.
No comments:
Post a Comment