Hello God. It's me, Mara

You know, Lord, sometimes we need a bit of encouragement to carry on, no matter what we’re “struggling” with. Occasionally help comes from the most unexpected places. It was interesting reading a devotional about how death can be kind. The unnamed author mentioned that she was having a hard time dealing with her husband’s death even though his death had happened several years before.

One day while walking to her mailbox, she passed a towering pine tree, hearing a sudden crashing of needles and limbs, she stopped! Whoa! Down fell the body of a rabbit, right in front of her. She looked up just in time to see a huge eagle fly away. The rabbit was dead for which she was grateful, because she hadn’t a clue as to what to do if it had been suffering.

Long ago when we were little kids on the ranch, Mom sent us down to the garden to hoe the potato plants. We were sauntering along when suddenly, right above us in the huge cottonwood tree, there was a noise like we’d never heard before and right before our eyes, down dropped one of the little yellow chicks.  The little chick was dead! A big black hawk began circling and we scampered out of the way. This wasn’t the first time a hawk had stolen a little chick!

Back to the devotional, the unnamed author picked up her mail, passing by the pine tree in time to see the huge eagle pick up the rabbit and fly away. That brought to her mind that her husband’s suffering was gone. Yes, she’d still grieve, but she thanked the Lord for showing her that death can be kind, that somehow, she could still carry on. Thank You, Lord for Phil 1:21: (NIV) “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Love, Mara