Love Will Live

The situation was completely out of my hands, yet God continued to show comfort and His presence to me. I knew, without a doubt that He was so real, and so kind. My eyes were being opened to everything He was doing, and I was able to trust that He was continuing to work this pain out, even in the following years.

When people go through a tragedy together, the opportunities for friendship and love are undeniable. Horrific events really do bring people closer together.

When something as terrible as losing a child happens, very good people and actions do come out from behind the scenes. There were so many people and businesses who showered this family with love, and it was the first time I had ever seen a community rally their support like that. The outpouring of love was astonishing.

There were no negative words; no judgments; only compassion and love. Sometimes, when tragedies happen, people don’t always say the right things. There really aren’t words to make it better, but there can certainly are words to make it worse. I encourage you to only use words to build others up; not to tear down.

One thing I feel strongly about though, is to say something; anything with kindness and love. You can’t go wrong with love.

Saying nothing is only pretending like a painful event never happened; its denial only segregates and isolates a person who is in pain.

It’s acknowledging the pain. It’s feeling the pain with them. Doing hard time in a personal prison is enough to break a person. You may not understand how they feel if you’ve never experienced a loss, and you don’t need to try to understand. Just cry with them. Send a heart.

Say their child’s name. Acknowledge their life. Acknowledge their importance in our lives.

No one knows what to say when a child dies. But supporting them is doing life with them. It’s bringing the connection we deeply need with others because that’s how we were designed. We aren’t meant to be alone. We are meant to do life together.

This is why practical love is important. Bringing food. Making them coffee. Sitting with them in their grief. Taking the burden off their shoulders, just like Jesus did for us.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God and others will approve of you, too.
So then, let us aim for harmony in the church
and try to build each other up.
(Romans 14:17-19)