Rejoicing and Weeping With One Another...

 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, 

weep with those who weep."

(Romans 12:15 ESV)

This past evening, our family rejoiced and celebrated our youngest turning double digits with a traditional birthday dinner. Our tradition calls for me to cook their requested favorite homemade meal and top the evening off with homemade dessert. And this year was no exception!

While we were enjoying a wonderful evening together, inwardly my heart was hurting for my nana. September 10^th is also a day to celebrate my grandfather’s 85^th birthday...

A little over a week ago on the morning of my 40th birthday, a heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving was lifted up to our LORD for graciously giving me another day with my family and His provisions, including a day planned in the City. Seconds later, the phone rang. It was a bit early to receive birthday calls I thought. My husband chuckled and teased, "It has begun." He was right, but not in the way we thought. It was a call informing me that my only living grandfather passed away.

You can imagine the emotions that were swirling inside of me. My emotions ran wild from denial to anger, to bargaining to guilt, to depression to hope, and back to denial, etc. My focus bounced from my grandfather, to God, to my grandmother, back to God, to me and then, back to God. Round and round it went all in a FEW short minutes! Of all days, I thought... and yet, as quickly as the thought came I recalled that it was a day like all other days: it was a day the LORD ordained. (Psalm 139:16)

Like Jesus when His beloved friend Lazarus died, I wept for my loss and my sweet husband wept with me.

When I finally reunited with my nana later in the evening, we wept together as we  held onto one another. Then, she turned to me and said something like, "Your tatang waited until your birthday to pass away to let you know he loves you." While not theologically correct, it was sweet of her to rejoice in the celebration of my birthday and comfort my hurting heart as we wept while hers was breaking. 

As the days go by and our family weeps, I am thankful that God's Word continues to comfort my heart as I mourn the loss of my beloved "tatang". (2 Cor. 1:3-7, Matthew 5:4)

<3