“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1.
As I open my devotion for today, this is the verse that God has given me. “Coincidently”, this is one of the verses that kept coming to mind after losing our angel, Parker, one year ago today. This is also one of the verses that I had engraved on the inside of the leather bracelet that I gave Brad for our anniversary, along with our favorite verse, Romans 8:28, the dates 9/25/99 (our anniversary), 6/18/04 (Mary Bradford’s birthday), & 3/29/12 (Parker’s birthdate & the day that changed our lives forever). I bought the bracelet as something for Brad to keep, figuring he would not wear it, since he is a tough southern boy who likes to hunt, fish & do “manly things.” A bracelet was not something I ever saw him wearing, but to my surprise, there has not been a day that has gone by that I have not seen it on his arm. I am filled with joy knowing that he chooses to be reminded every day of how blessed we are, despite what we went through a year ago.
I, too, try my hardest to focus each day on our blessings. Not to say that I don’t get sad & I don’t think EVERY day of my life, what would he look like? Would he have dark hair or would he have been my little blonde haired, blue eyed boy? Would he like puppies or trucks & trains, or pirates? I imagine how much Mary Bradford would love to have played with him & made him laugh. I cry imagining the scent of baby lotion on his head as I would have held him. I hurt even more imagining how much Brad would have enjoyed taking him hunting & teaching him how to catch and throw a baseball. As hard as some days are & as much as I want to hold on to the “what if’s”, I have to choose to let go & live each day with a thankful heart. And, I am thankful that our angel came into our lives to show us how to do this. I am thankful that God chose Parker to teach me to slow down, take one day at a time, & to love with my WHOLE heart, not just a part of it.
As I looked back today at the many cards we received and think of the numerous emails, texts, calls & prayers from our family & friends, and even people that we have never met, I am totally humbled by all the love that was shown to our family last year. It was evident today that we had many sweet friends continuing to pray for us as we took the day to “remember”. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you. A year ago, I never would have dreamed that today would have been a peaceful day, but it was just that……..Peaceful.
Giving praise that today was a time of Peace for our family.
Giving praise that today was a time of Peace for our family.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
