Choosing joy is a phrase that has rolled off of my lips more times than I can count, and it has been a daily habit in my life for longer than I can remember. We choose it...meaning lots of times we force our insides to will it into being. You know, "will it, until you feel it". Makes sense, right? But...every once in a while, we just kinda need a little easy joy. You know, the kind we don't necessarily have to "choose".
One of the scriptures that I would cling to, and quote so very often, is Psalm 30:5, "...though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes with the morning".
Hard truth: Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't.
Tomorrow is Valentines Day. Many will celebrate the loves in their lives. Chocolates, flowers, sweet cards, and much yummy food will be enjoyed all throughout the day.
For some there will be "joy in the morning".
For others, the joy will remain hidden behind the weeping for a little bit longer.
Tomorrow is the birthday of my sweet Aubri girl's very best friend. But she won't be celebrating with her bestie. Instead, she will be sitting beside Jayden's amazing mom at a memorial in her honor. No presents. No cake. No candles. No joy. Another reminder that her beautiful life was taken way too soon. The weeping will continue a little bit longer.
However, even though the joy remains hidden for a while, there is one thing that bursts through the darkness of mourning with more force than a mighty rushing wind...
Love. So much love.
There is a love for Jayden. A love for her mom. A love for her siblings. A love for her family and friends. A strong love. A binding love. A lasting love. A healing love.
Life on this broken planet is full of sadness and heartache; full of disappointment and fear; full of hatred and violence; full of weeping. Much weeping. But when that strong, binding, lasting, healing love floods a soul, it brings with it the very motivation needed to push through to another day. I mean, just look at this picture a sweet friend took of Jayden's mom once again comforting Aubri girl. A mom, in her own unimaginable grief, not focusing on her own heartbreak, but the brokenness of her daughter's very best friend. THAT is love. THAT is the love that propels one through another day. Another day where we hold tight to the hope that we will soon awaken on the morning which brings forth that sweet joy we read about.
So for now, even though there may be no joy in the morning, we hold tight to the love in the mourning!
“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:7-8
I've seen other survivors do this and I'm always so overwhelmed at how they can look past their own agony to quiet the agony of someone else who loved and lost the same person.
ReplyDeleteMy heart aches for Jayden's mom and for Aubri. I'm glad you are there for them. This is a long, long road my friend. It's good they have you.