Thankfulness #17: Winter Solstice

View Outside My Home
I woke up this morning to a dark sky. And slowly, ever so slowly, the sun started to rise. While my children ate their customary breakfast of cereal, milk and fruit, the sky began to light up with oranges, purples, blues, and pinks. There is something about the hues of a winter sunrise that is different from any other time of the year. The low angle of the sun's rays combined with the reflective quality of snow crystals uniquely paint the horizon. I love it. I am thankful for the beauty I see through my camera lens. Today is the first day of winter. And I welcome this day with joy, because it means that the days will get longer. But, admittedly, I will miss witnessing the sun rise.

These days I've been contemplating life's brevity. Earlier this week, my husband's school received tragic news that a Grade Twelve female student was killed in a head-on collision just outside of our city. Her funeral is on Friday, the day before Christmas Eve. I cannot imagine the heart-wrenching grief the family is experiencing at this moment. The joy and anticipation of Christmas Day has been transformed into tears, anger, sorrow, pain, and deep loss. What will her family do with her gifts? How do you get up and face a New Year after that?

This morning, as I opened my eyes, I whispered a prayer of thanks. My children are alive. My husband came home safely from work. I am healthy, by God's Grace. My family is safe.

But for how long?

Eventually tragedy and sorrow will grip my soul and threaten to strip every garment of joy and praise that encompasses my being. How will I handle it? How will I relate with Creator God in that moment? I don't know...

A friend of mine, Mrs. Loquacious, recently prayed for her unborn child in the post entitled Praying Beyond "Protect My Children" (see the comments section of that post for further details). She mentioned these words, "Finally, I pray that I will not make her an idol in my own life but will always recognize that she belongs to Him." Those words really struck a cord with me. My children - idols! Do I place my children, my husband, my family ABOVE God? Do I regard them with BLIND adoration and fierce devotion that is only meant for my Lord and Saviour? Do I forget that these beautiful people are God's precious possessions, LOANED to me for a season that is measured to the nanosecond by the Creator? Sadly, I must confess, "Yes." And I must seek God's forgiveness during moments when I plead, scream, and yell in the face of my Maker, "Please, don't take them away from me! PLEASE don't!!! I need them more than YOU!"

But it isn't easy to NOT idolize your loved ones, especially when you hear of a mother losing her daughter, a sibling losing her sister, a family losing a dear member days before Christmas. Rather, it is deeply difficult to hold your precious family loosely in your hand.

It is early afternoon and the sun is already dipping low on the horizon. Soon it will be dark and cold. But tomorrow, God willing, I will wake up to that glorious sunrise again and the day will be a tiny bit longer. I will thank the Lord for loaning my family to me for another revolution of the earth. And I will pray, once again, for this grieving family. It is my sincere desire that they will find some HOPE and PEACE and JOY in the days to come. I yearn for their lives to be warmed by the Son's Rays again, even though their current days are utterly dark and full of despair. May their winter solstice pass into spring.

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