Glory among the pain.

     This week has been a stressful, crazy, emotional week for my family and I. We recently discovered that my aunt has cancer. I shudder at the word. There's something cruel about the way it slides off my tongue. It does not discriminate against age or gender. Race or where you live. What your name is or what your beliefs are. It evades not just the body but the soul as well. Every survivor I have ever talked to has been transformed by their fight on the battle field. Many tears shed, prayers lifted, faces kissed, hugs shared, and joy found mixed in with pain has all been apart of their journey. Why God lets us go through such things, I do not know. My only conclusion is that through our pain and suffering we are able to see things in a different light. We become closer to the glory of God. Pain was screaming from the hill of Golgotha as Christ died on the cross. We find it hard to imagine that imaige as being full of glory. But that is the picture of His vast, endless love for us. He became sin for me, for you. He went through the deepest kind of pain there is. He knows what our hearts feel. I think we tend to forget that. We become so clouded by our own pain we become oblivious to His love that is right in front of our faces. I have been guilty of just that. As I have grappled with the concept of one of my closest friends (yes, my aunt is one of my best friends) dealing with such a serious and life threatening illness, I have realized once again that I do not have all the answers. I'm clueless when it comes to the  "whys" we so endlessly ask. But I do know that we can trust the God that made our hearts and longs for us. He is stronger than cancer and whether or not He heals physically, He always heals spirituality. And for that He deserves all praise. So, tonight praise God for His faithfulness even in the dark places.
                                                                                                                Yours always,
                                                                                                                                      Lyndsey Rachelle<3