Suffering

I made this myself as an experiment in graphic design. Don't mock.

There is a woman my mom knows, a mother of young children, who fought cancer and finds herself healthy again.  This woman is wealthy and attractive.  She lives in a house my mom thinks is ostentatious and drives new and expensive cars. She works hard to make herself and her children look well dressed and lovely.  They are all lovely.  But my mom felt like her struggle with cancer and the possibility of death would have changed her priorities and caused her to be more focused on "important" things.  (Church service, kindness, etc.) 

"Trials aren't an automatic cure for human frailties and shortcomings.  They don't automatically make saints out of those who suffer them."  I said to my mom. 

(Thinking of myself and my seeming inability to overcome my weaknesses despite my exposure to pain.)  

For that reason, I have a deep admiration for those who are profoundly changed by grief. Julie is perhaps the finest example I have of the refining power of grief.  I've mentioned her before on my blog.  I've never met her but am consistently inspired by her healing words and authentic writing.

Sunday would have been her sweet Jonah's third birthday.  In his memory she is asking/encouraging anyone whose heart inclines them, to be especially kind or loving that day. 

Read more here. 

I think I'll give each of my kids 30 minutes of my undivided attention on Sunday and make a couple phone calls to great-grandparents as a tribute to Jonah's legacy. 

If you have the opportunity to share the love, go back to Julie's blog and tell her about it. I'm sure she would love to hear.