Picture This Scene...

Last night I had the privilege of stepping back from a situation for a bit and observing the power of our God working in broken lives. It was a powerful moment for me and I thought I would attempt to share it with you.

Jason and I have spent our evenings with Amy and Nate this week...some separate, taking turns, and others together when our sweet friends have offered to watch our kids.

Last night we went together. And the nights all have the common themes of sadness, grieving, intense conversations about the power and nature of our Savior, Heaven, and of course all of them are intertwined with laughter and stories of our little Tucker.

Last night in particular, Nathan and Jason got into some pretty deep theological discussions at the kitchen table, grappling with God's power, His plans, His will, His love, and such. When I joined the conversation, the talk turned toward that of future ministry God has laid out before Amy and Nate in the midst of the tragedy they are currently experiencing. It was an uplifting conversation and Nate said something that struck me in a powerful way. He said (along the lines) how he hopes people can see them go through the unthinkable tragedy of losing a child, and still see that he is okay with his Lord.
This was powerful to me in that I have in the past heard it said by others, "We can go through tragedy, but we'll still be okay!"
Nate's version implied that they may not be "okay" and that the pain is deep and the struggle fierce, but that their God never changes, nor does his relationship with Him...the ultimate test of our faith in whom we call Savior...right?

So as we're discussing these things of God at the kitchen table, another dear friend, Matt, joins us with his Bible and opens up Romans 8. He begins sharing from some things God has been teaching him, which are all intertwined with the conversations we have been having over the past hour.

And then it hit me...I stepped back from the scene for  a moment and took it in:
Here were three Godly men, one of which had just experienced the most unimaginable tragedy for any parent, in a house that was terrorized by an extremely traumatic scene just last week, and they were... praising their Savior through their obedience of delving into His word for guidance, discussing what possible future ministry He might have in mind, expressing their deep desire for others to know HIM fully and to be used in that process by whatever means, and ultimately acknowledging that He is still Lord of their lives.
It felt so normal to be a part of the conversation in the midst, but when I stepped back, I was hit with how abnormal such a scene really is under such circumstances.

Don't get me wrong...the pain is deep and we all share that as well...but over these past weeks, I have witnessed a family/community grieving with hope.
And there is a big difference than grieving with despair.

A good friend of ours sent a verse to Amy last night that delineates this difference and was impactful to all of us as Amy read it aloud: it's Paul urging the Thessalonians not "to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope." (I Thess. 4:13).

So just thought I'd share a scene from last night.

And I want you all to know that Amy has been reading every last message you guys have sent her. I have witnessed a lot of them, she read a lot aloud last night that were in response to her blog, and each one has touched her soul. Thank you for loving on her, encouraging her, and praying for her. She has been immensely blessed by you all.
Love yall.