You will forever be loved TLW 2-11-11

I don't know if I have talked about this with anyone ever, but I'm much better at writing down what I feel than talking about it and a year later it seems fitting to tell someone. So this is the way that I can say just how much I miss one of my bests friends and just how much I still feel. I, along with many others, love and miss Trisha Lynn Wood, but also realize just how great a place she is in. 

It was a pretty quiet morning. I never really thought about why I woke up so early, but I think it was God’s way of making sure I started the day out right. I woke up around 7am and thought it was incredibly nice out for a January morning. The sun was shining it was actually pretty warm, and there was a slight hint of frost on the ground making the whole world sparkle. I decided that I was going to go outside and do devotions there. I’m not sure why I usually do devotions before I go to bed and just pray when I wake up. But this day was different, and I thought I should go outside because it was gorgeous and by the time I got to bed that night I knew that it would be dark. I never realized how much God was speaking to me that morning and preparing me for what would become one of the longest days I have ever lived through.

I took my Bible outside and just opened it up. I wasn’t really on a set schedule and just felt that I would read whatever God put in my lap -pretty literally. I just let the Bible fall open and decided that I would read and pray and think about whatever it was that I was meant to read. That morning I was supposed to read Psalm 71. I read about how I needed to praise God in every situation. When I go back I realize just how much God was preparing me for the phone call I was about to receive. Psalm 71: 19-21 reads like this:

¹⁹ Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?
²⁰ You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
²¹ You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.

See not only does God give me great troubles, but he shows me through them and provides COMFORT on every side of me. Not only does he revive me again, but he brings me from the depths of my pain and troubles to his heavenly throne where I continue to praise him. PRAISE HIM. Even in the bad times I am supposed to give thanks to God for all of the good in my life.

There were many lives that changed that day. And there are millions more who drift by unaffected by a life that was so precious to so many. A year goes by and there isn’t a day that we think about her and realize just how much she was loved. But how deep was the Father’s love for us that he gave his ONLY son so that we can live forever. God provides us with a life beyond this one that is so much better. I can’t imagine a better thing to look forward to.

So on a day that was so hard for so many I hope that we can ALL remember just how much God has done for us and how much he has yet to do. God doesn’t turn away for us or forget us like we would make it seem. Instead he provides us comfort in unusual ways. Like making us wake up early one morning just to read the Bible and pray.

There were a few other verses that have been shared with my family and I since the death of Trisha and I think it’s only fitting that a year later I revisit those verses and draw comfort from them again.

2 Corinthians 1: 3&4 "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God

Is 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

For God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death". Psalm 48:14

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

And the one that helps the most:
"The LORD give and the LORD taketh away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.