My dad had just passed away at Thanksgiving. Suddenly, he was ripped from us. His loving family. Wife of 50 years. Daughter. Granddaughter. And, very new and tiny great granddaughter. Suddenly. Alive one day. Gone the next. Papa died in his sleep. We didn’t put my mother through an autopsy. He probably had a stroke. Papa never did believe in taking his blood pressure medicine.
This was our first Christmas Eve without him. What would we do? What could we say? I could feel my mother’s heaviness. She looked small and disheartened. We took her to a condo at a near by ski resort. Ski. Snow. Fun ….. right? Get her mind off of my dad. Get her mind off of her sorrow. Get my heart lifted.
She stood on the deck of our condo. The ski slopes were in the distant background. I asked to take her picture and about that time….with no real clouds in the sky – the air became full of swirling and dancing ice crystals.
My mother looked enchanting. While her face and body language were so sorrowful – around her danced what looked like – and what I felt were angels. And perhaps dancing with them was the spirit of my father! He danced and sang. He laughed and praised.
And, at that moment in my life, I didn’t know what was going to happen to any of us. But, I knew that we would be all right.
It’s been 4 years now and we are all right. For myself, I am better than all right. Through the death of my beloved Papa, I was drawn to a tender and loving God. In that despair, I cried out for answers. The only thing I could do was believe. Trust. Ask. Watch. Wait.
And, as promised in the law of His Word, He answered.
I was reminded of that Christmas Eve this morning. I’m facing some tough situations in my life. I am being placed in a situation that I’m not exactly sure how to handle. I don’t know how this will turn out. Will I even know what to say and will it be the right words? And, with no clear sky in sight, the sun broke through and illuminated the trees and flowers in a refreshing way that I had not seen before. Through the rays of the sun, I can see them dance and sing and praise. The angels. My Papa. Sent to me.
And, at this moment in my life, I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know that I am going to be all right.
Oh, great mystery of Love. Amen.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:2-4