life...

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Life is hard.  Life is painful and full of sorrow.  People die.  Others hurt.  We lose people we love, and we wonder how we will ever be able to go on with this life.  Sweet innocent children lose their lives long before their time.

Yet life is also beautiful and full of joy and wonder.   Babies are born.  People are healed.  Second chances are given and new beginnings are found!  Souls are saved, and the loss of one life brings new meaning to the lives of so many.

Sometimes it is so hard to find that joy and wonder... so hard to find peace.  Sometimes life hurts so badly we can hardly breathe.  Other days we are so full of joy and love that we wonder why we have been so blessed!

Today a little girl, Layla Grace, lost the fight for her life.  No, I didn't know her, or her family.  But I do know a mother's heart, and mine broke for Layla's mom.  I can't imagine the pain she is suffering tonight as part of her heart left for Heaven this morning.  I can't imagine having to keep on breathing when even that simple act feels like to much to handle.

 This sweet boy makes my life beautiful.  He gives my life purpose and reminds me of the most important things everyday.  This boy... my son... makes my life worth living.

Sometimes I love him so much my heart aches just from laying him down and walking away from him for a few hours.  I miss him at night, and am so excited to see his sweet smile in the morning.  His laugh is the soundtrack of my life, and I want nothing more than to hear it for years to come!

But I know that life is so precious and fleeting, and all too often we have to let go of our loved ones, even our sweet babes, before we are ready.  I can't imagine that pain... and so I try to cherish each moment with my son, because I know I could lose it all in the blink of an eye.  We all could.

I just pray that if I ever do have to walk that painful path, like so many have, I will be able to have even a glimmer of the strength and faith that Horatio Spafford had when he lost most of his family in a horrible accident.  His words give me strength every day and remind me that It Is Well...

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1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   
   • It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

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