A few months ago, I attended the funeral service of a family member – a teenager – who was well and full of life one minute and gone the next in a tragic four-wheeler accident. The death of someone so young is not something that seems fair or normal. It is devastating and difficult to comprehend. As a mother, I cannot imagine anything as heart-breaking as the loss of a child. Surely the days must drag on indefinitely through a dense fog of memories and pain that seems like it will last forever.
The minister who spoke that day made a profound statement that reverberated in my soul. He said, “Life comes around every corner.” And he was right! Even when tragedy arrives at our doorstep in one form or another, and we cannot see past it, we must not give up hope. Though life may have brought confusion, sadness, or loss today, there will be a tomorrow when it brings clarity, joy, and blessing once again.
I have known heartbreak in many forms – broken relationships, the death of a parent, the loss of a job, the betrayal of friends, and the fight to save a rebellious teenager from permanent ruin…to name a few. I am sure you can identify with at least one of these challenges – even more than one if you have lived as long as I have. There is an old saying that we either just came out of a trial, are in a trial now, or will face one soon. There is some truth in that. I have known times in life when it seemed I just could not get a break from difficulty – when I couldn’t seem to get my feet under me before being knocked down again. Can you relate?
But life does not continuously present these heart-rending challenges forever.
Here is another truth, and I hope it ignites a spirit of determination in you today. If we only focus on the potential devastation that may be waiting just around the corner, we will never turn the corner. We will become paralyzed in fear right where we are. We will never accomplish all we were meant to do, and we will never become who we might have been. The whole truth in its simplicity is that the future holds both wonderful and difficult circumstances. There will be days of sunshine and rain. There will be nights of joy and sorrow. There will be life and death, plenty and scarcity, laughter and tears, success and failure. If we want to know the exhilaration of soaring high in our dreams, we cannot let the fear of crashing keep our feet on the ground.
I saw that teenager’s mom at a family reunion this past weekend. Her smile may not have been quite as bright as it was before the tragedy, but she was smiling. She may have been missing her son, but she was present with the rest of her family. She was enjoying a warm spring day under the shade of big oak trees and participating in light conversation about good times. She was looking toward the future when her newly engaged daughter may bring a new little life into the family. She was living, and that is inspiring to me.
Life does come around every corner. Though it sometimes comes bearing things we did not want to face, the next corner may reveal blessings and miracles we never thought possible.
We must continue the journey – one step at a time.
