Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5
Today marks 11 years since Abby moved to heaven. I stayed busy yesterday but as I drifted off to sleep last night, the tears threatened to flow and I felt that sudden pang remembering the terror of those moments followed by the deepest grief I have ever known.
God has been so incredibly faithful to us in this season even though sometimes the fog has been so heavy we struggled to see Him. We wanted things to make sense. They didn’t. But He did and does. We have felt his nearness in such tangible ways.
Last night one of my dearest friends showed up with flowers. Today I woke up to messages from people I don’t often hear from, remembering with us. This journey of grief is lonely, but God has gifted us with a network of people who love us so well.
Lexi penned a beautiful letter to lay by her grave when we go light lanterns there tonight. We’ll stop by Hobby Lobby and get some fresh silks to put in the vases by her grave and we’ll cry as we remember.
If you are local you are welcome to join us for the lantern release tonight at the Fairview Church cemetery at 9:30 pm.
The fun and exciting news is that I am getting ready to sign on the dotted line with a publisher and will hopefully get my children’s book Splashes of Red out in early 2027. I found it appropriate to have that meeting this morning to signify the signs of the fresh hope given to us, in getting the story of her out there to touch others who will walk this dark path. The hard part is doing the edits and actually sitting down to read it with each of my children. Since it is a personal account of the hardest week of our lives, the emotions stay raw and each time we read it, we cry. It is healing though, to realize how God has already used out pain to help others and we continue to trust Him to do so in each season!
My illustrator Archie has been working hard, gifting me with images that take my breath away, like the one above!
Hugs my dear!