Jesus sees

It's so interesting how God works sometimes, isn't it? After pondering for a few weeks, I finally wrote about goodbye's last Friday and then.

Oh my heart, and then...

Another goodbye is happening right now. I woke up yesterday morning none the wiser, having just read a couple sweet stories the night before, all ready to go through my day happy, only to hear the news of a dear friend's passing. And how my heart was a mess the rest of the day!

Long goodbye's are hard, that's very true. But so are short ones. And when they're completely unexpected? When your heart has no preparation? It hurts, friends. I distracted myself with work, with review writing on my book blog, with any number of things that allowed me not to dwell on it. (Because if I'd dwelt on it all day, I'd never have been functional.) But once I was finally driving home, my heart wouldn't be denied anymore. And the tears....oh the tears.

Goodbye's stink!

There, I said it. And it's true. But what I cry most about is for her family. Her children and her husband who have a huge crater of a hole in their lives now. It'll get easier. I hope. But it'll never go away. Because mom's are special people. I was blessed with an amazing mother and even having time to prepare to say goodbye to her is not fun. If I had no preparation time? Ouch, ouch, ouch.

And yet...

I discovered a song last week. It's Jesus Sees by Meredith Andrews and truly this discovery could not have happened at a more perfect moment. I had another dear friend struggling with health problems and heart-fears last week and this song was perfect for her. I had my own heart-fears over the weekend with some hard in my family life and this song was perfect for me. And then comes Tuesday. And oh this song has blessed me, my friends.

When you're shattered by grief, 

Can't find a reason to sing. 

On your hardest of days, 

When you're fighting for faith, 

You are not alone here. 

You are not alone here! 

How comforting that is, to know we are never alone. Jesus is always right there, ready with arms open. With a hug that draws you inside until you're so enveloped in his warmth and you can hear his heartbeat in your ear. Isn't that a beautiful thought?

Though you question, though you doubt, 

He is running to you now 

With perfect love and perfect peace. 

He is everything you need. 

You are not forgotten, 

No, you are not forgotten!

How often do we feel forgotten? Especially in the midst of hard? Yet He never, ever has! He knows our smallest and deepest heartbreak. Even the tiniest tear in the dark of night is known and understood. He knows, my friends.

He is near to the brokenhearted. 

Closer still than the air you breathe. 

Every tear falling in the darkness, 

JESUS SEES 

He is faithful in every season, 

You are never beyond His reach. 

Every hurt that you thought was hidden 

JESUS SEES 

He meets you in your pain, 

He calls you by your name, 

He sees, He understands, He holds you in his hands. 

JESUS SEES.

We'll make it. God's right there. Always beside us, reminding us that this is a goodbye for now, not a goodbye forever. Someday we'll see her bright smile again! And yes, it doesn't make the hurt go away. But it makes it easy to bear. Because anticipation and hope make our hearts happier, don't they? And our Father is all about HOPE!

"Resting in the hope of eternal life, which the ever truthful God who cannot deceive promised before the world or the ages of time began." Titus 1:2 amp

{Shout out to another friend who posted some hopeful thoughts on this over here.}