A time for tears -

"It is Well"
by Horatio G. Spafford (1873)

"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.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

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.

Refrain

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!

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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!

Refrain

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!! "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today I talked with my dear friend Sadie Beth in the UK,
she has been a dearest friend and confidant,
we have shared many sorrows since we've known each other,
and as I shared some sorrow with her today,
she told me this, and I wanted to share it here -

" Sarah: and remember God knows how you feel.
Jean, think of this - when Jesus went to Lazarus,
when he was in the tomb,
even though He knew, as the others didn't,
that He had the power to make him alive again,
He still ... wept.
If for nothing else, than for the sorrow His friends
were going through,
if not sorrow Himself over Lazarus too,
and he knew He could make him alive again
in an instant,
but, Jean, He's not oblivious to our pain.
He knows how death hurts.
How sometimes ...
it is not a time for words,
or even for prayer
but just ...
for tears. "

It's been a time for tears as of late.
For the past two months,
there have been many times for tears.
Many of you have written me, or
called and asked if I am okay.
Yes.
I am okay physically.
I am grieving the loss of a friend,
and my friends' losses,
I am deeply grieving.
Life is hard,
AND
God is faithful.

And tonight,
and for every night
and until forever,
may I always bless the name of the Lord,
Who giveth and taketh away :
when I maybe understand,
and ALL the moments I think I never, ever will,
for the days when I've fallen apart,
for the days I've been frozen and stoically "fine",
for the days I felt my world crashing down,
for the days I smiled and laughed and claimed joy,

for the days I didn't want to thank God,
because surely THIS wasn't meant to happen,
but later on in the day knew what was missing,
and ... thanked Him anyway ....

for the days I wished life could stop and
normality would resume,
for the days I woke up with tears on my cheeks
and realized I had been dreaming,
for the nights I lay awake trying not to think,
and the mornings afterwards trying to work it out,

for the days I sang hymns out of desperation,
for the days I stuck my hand outside the window
while driving to capture the feel of flying,
and childlike joy ....
for the days I've been so broken
I haven't known how to live,
for so many things that have been right
turned so wrong ....

for the days I couldn't do anything in these 8 wks.
except -
weep in sorrow,
Jesus,
Thee ... held me every time.
You held me in every moment of those tears,
even when I couldn't feel it.
- thank you

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless His most holy name,
~ Jean Marie ~
Psalm 103

"To every thing there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under the heaven....
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance....
He hath made everything beautiful in His time:
also He hath set the world in their heart
so that no man can find out the work
that God maketh from the beginning to the end."
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4, & 11) KJV