Blessed are they who mourn

Until this weekend those were just nice sounding words. This weekend I read them in a completely different light. I've moved into a new category, now I am one of those "who mourns". I got the call Thursday that my mom's dad had gone HOME. On the flights Friday morning I just immersed myself in Scripture, finding comfort in its familarity and its honest wrestling with the human experience.

As I read the Beattitudes I realized that they were a promise from Jesus - those who mourn will be comforted beacuse God is the great comforter.

As I read Mary and Martha's grief I realized that they invited Jesus into their pain and they spoke honestly to their Lord about what they expected from him.

These stories spoke deeper to me than they ever had before because my heart was flooded with raw emotion and my intellect wasn't filtering things "rationally".

The memorial service on Saturday was beautiful, Grandpa had planned it out - he was a minsiter up to the very end.

Through everything I have felt God's peace and His presence and I am grateful.