These Past Three Weeks

My daughter said it in a sentence to me just this afternoon...

"Mom, what is this world coming to anyway??"

Good question. In the past three weeks, we have lost 2 friends, a pastor, and several people in our church have fallen ill in some serious way.

I had to explain some devastating news to my daughters who had never heard the word "infidelity" before. Yes. That's what this world is coming to. Gone are the days of being secure in your relationships or the picture of the people you know. Shock. Distrust. Confusion. Sadness. That's what our world came to in just three short weeks.

And yet, life goes on. You go to school, do some laundry, attend the volleyball games and church as if nothing has changed. You tuck your kids in at night and assure them that they are loved, and that yes, mom and dad are committed to each other and they don't have to worry about that scary word they just heard. Shaken. Battered. But not destroyed. Someone else's crisis/mistake/pain is always shared. Dropped. Poured. Slammed. And innocent people are always in its path.

How do I answer that question my daughter asked today? Tears in her eyes. Anger over the news she had just heard. Confused by what she heard as truth about someone she trusted. Scared over the many sicknesses in our church. I answered her the only way I could.

God will take care of this. His way. His time. And while He is working on that, He will take care of your feelings about it. He will make this right with those who have been wronged. He will forgive. He will love. He will replace. He will restore. He will heal. He will hear. And he will never give us more than we can bear. He has overcome this world, and one day we will too.

Sometimes it would be easier to shelter the kids from the ills of the world, but the truth is, until they see the ills of the world, it's hard for them to see just how strong their God really is. When there is trouble, His power is revealed. So, I guess we can't complain about troubles.It's just hard when your kids get old enough to know what this world is really about. It makes their dad and I hug them a bit tighter, a bit longer, and for more reasons than they even know.