December 17, 2017

When there is weeping in Ramah...

When family, friends are suddenly no more
When hearts are broken through separation of a PCS
When little ones lie in hospital beds
And mothers refuse to speak of their deadly cancer

God with us

God with us in the tears at the gravesite
God with us when we feel so very alone
God with us in the unknown

When our loved ones are on the other side of the world, surrounded by hatred
Or when they are right next to us, but a world away in their heart
When the worry of what's to come takes us away from the here and now
When we dread the morning's light because of the decisions of the day

God with us

When a shadow covers our Christmas
we remember the shadow of the cross over Your manger

Thank You Lord for truly being with us in all our days
for coming, for knowing our hurts, for crying with us, for feeling the pain

We pray we would shine Your light so brightly through our brokenness
that others will be so pulled in they can see You.

We pray for the extended family whose son had a severe skiing accident.
We pray for Your help in containing the California fires.
We pray for those who are terminally ill--may they find You in their last days.
We pray for those who are sick. May they acknowledge Your healing touch.
We pray for our deployed. Please keep them safe and give them peace in their hearts. May their families be encouraged.
We pray for safety for those who are on the road.
We pray You will go ahead of those PCSing and prepare a home for them.
We pray for peace in our homes, peace in the world. May Your Holy Spirit overflow.

And we pray for our hurting veterans, military members. Please hold them close. May the spirit of suicide be pushed away.

Cup our face Lord, turn our eyes to You. We look to You to dry our tears. We hold unswervingly to You for hope.
We thank You for the moment of laughter, the unexpected gift, the glimpse of a sparrow being cared for by Your hand. We thank You for the fresh, white snow creating new beauty. We thank You for the Christmas hymns running as a soundtrack through our days. We thank You for extra time with people we love. We thank You for deep breaths of cool air--for our life. We thank You for the cookies and the cards and the preparations reminding us of joy to come.

We thank You for turning our mourning into joy.