From Carol
This meant a great deal to Colleen and she wanted to share it with all of you.
I continue to pray for you and your family. When I lost my daughter at an early age, I found the daily devotional "Streams in the Desert" to be a constant source of comfort and hope to me. Please let me know if I can send you one. It was a real moment of submission for me to acknowledge that "God is God, and I am not". I literally heard the voice of God convict me after many, many days of tears and the same monotonous unanswered question, "Why,God, Why"? God’s spirit spoke to me, commanding me to answer the question:"Am I God". My somewhat begrudged but humbled answer was: "Yes, Lord". His next question: "Am I Good"? My even more humbled answer: "Yes, Lord". And the final declaration from Him: "Then Praise Me anyway"! And so I have. I always cry even today when raising my hands to Him to sing the verse to that song: "Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be His name, Jesus. …He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, My heart will choose to say, Blessed be His name…" That was a real turning point in my life, as I am sure this will be for you and your family some way, some how. During our time of grief and seeking God, my husband had a similar experience, where he heard God’s voice say to him, "I know how you feel, I lost My Son". I am so thankful we serve a risen Savior who knows how we feel. I am so grateful to God for the refining by fire he has done in me, and I pray that you will experience that eventually as well. I thank you SO MUCH that your email to all of us at ACP demonstrates the grace and hope that can ONLY be found in Christ Jesus. Thank you for being a witness to those who do not know Him. May God Bless you and your family abundantly and I pray for you to feel loved, comforted, peaceful and assured that you and Caitlin will be together again for all eternity.
Carol
