I woke up with that on my heart today....last night my Pastor called to share some sad and tragic news about one of Gabe's youth group friends, and his tragic passing yesterday.....wanting me to be able to talk to Gabe about it before he heads to school today and hears it all.....such a kind and thoughtful gesture of him.....As I said yesterday in my blog Pastor Niel is a special human indeed.....and what he shared was heartbreaking and tragic....stopping me in my tracks and taking my breath away in the magnitude of it all.......and I am figuring out the right words to share with my boy....it is always hard to understand or gauge how much of what happens.....especially emotionally, gets in fully for him.....not that he doesn't feel, because he does.....deeply.....it is the processing of big things that are sometimes hard for me to fully sense for him.....and I worry because his heartache is not always visible, but I sometimes I sense it lies beneath....his barriers preventing it from being fully expressed.......and the peace that passes all understanding is sometimes all there is.......I found this and thought it expressed it beautifully ...
"This is a peace that transcends, outdoes, surpasses, excels, rises above, goes beyond and over the top of any other kind of peace. The implication is that people may try to find peace in other places, but there is no peace like the peace of God."
And it is something that needs to make sense to the individual....something that they need to settle into, and lean on when the going gets rocky......the peace of a church service....or a word that speaks to our hearts....a sermon.......the love of our family and children.....a moment in the woods surrounded by the beauty of nature......a moment of gratitude for a blessing that we have been given.....but also a moment of respite when our hearts are shattered, and the pain threatens to swallow us whole.....when grief comes a calling......when tragedy strikes, or our burdens grow heavy.....or we are weary from the challenge of being human and walking our paths.......all of those times call for that kind of peace, that arrives in a moment......one we cannot explain or fully understand.....and I believe I have felt that peace on this journey......the peace that passes all understanding....the peace that arrives despite...and maybe in spite of it all......and it is a gift, no question......and my heart is broken for the family affected by this tragedy and loss....and facing all they must this day, this week, for the rest of their days amid their tragic loss....and all of its implications.....and my deep prayer for them this morning is that the peace that passes all understanding finds their lives.....so deeply, so completely....so fully.....that it helps fill some of the cracks in their broken hearts....today and every day.....Amen........
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