Finding Inspiration in Surprising Places

If you look on my side-bar, you'll see different blogs I follow. Some are "in-real-life" friends while others are known to me via their blog only. One of these "strangers" is Cora's mom, to whom I was introduced through Maddie & Binky's mom (whom, I think, I may have met via MckMama-though I'm not sure...it could have been through Carter's mom!),and now Cora's mom has lead me to the blog written by Joel's mom.

These women are all courageous bloggers who have shared the triumphs and tragedies within their families. Today, I was struck by some of the things Joel's mom, Sara, wrote within days of the passing of her son. Her blog is called "Joel Lives" and this is what she wrote:

"....we look forward to sharing more of our amazing son with you, and to rejoicing that he is forever in heaven, safe and perfect. But we also know that Saturday will give us all a chance to grieve together, to share in the sadness that we don't get to know Joel on this earth, to mourn our loss...Everyday I wake up is one day further away from the last time I kissed his beautiful face, but also one day closer to seeing him again - it's terrible and wonderful all at the same time. God is comforting us, through the kind words of friends and strangers and the slow passage of time as the days continue on without our baby." (Bold highlights mine)

Days later, Sara went on to say:
"I want to tell all of you how I fight to say "Our son lives in heaven" instead of "our son died". It is so much easier to give death that sting and finality and I refuse because I know that our God reigns, even over the grave and he holds our Joel, our living Joel, in heaven. It feels like it is over here on earth, but I know it is not, and I won't give in to the temptation to make it sound like his life has ended. It has not. Our son lives in heaven. I want to tell all of you that providence is real, that grace exists and I see it in our lives...daily."
That statement is so breath-taking that the whole bit ought to be highlighted in bold! And so inspirational.



A month later, Sara wrote:
"I am glad that my Joel lives in heaven. I miss him in a way that can still suck the breath and hope right out of my spirit, but I will never mourn for him. I mourn for me, and for all of us who would have shared a lifetime with our son."

Please note that Sara's blog goes on to talk about the ups & downs of living here on earth while her son lives on in heaven, but I wanted to share the above passages written early on in their family's journey because I truly believe them to be inspirational and they infused me with hope.

My heartfelt thanks & prayers go out to these courageous families who have allowed total strangers to peek into their lives. They bring comfort, inspiration, understanding, and hope.

I wanted to share that hope with those who read my blog--though it is highly possible that no one actually does! But writing these posts are theraputic for me, so I will continue to "blog on"!