Those cleaning up after 9-11 faced a huge task. They couldn't’t just realign the rubble and reconstruct the Twin Towers. Instead, they could only start cleaning up the debris and build something entirely new. It is still a work in progress.
This weekend I finally understood that I face a similar challenge. Nancy’s death removed the wonderful structure of our marriage. I can’t just rearrange a few details of life and go back to business as usual. No, every aspect of my life, from the way I relate to God, other people, spend my evenings, and organize the bedroom has been forever changed. It is a season to build something new.
Somehow this realization has helped. It has allowed me to “frame” this season, to make sense of it, to define the awesome scope, to admit that building a new structure for life might take years.
Our marriage was a tower of grace, a refuge and a joy. That wonderful dwelling was removed by its Architect this past summer. Now I must ask HIM to hand me the blueprints for a new life. This forces me to stretch out on the goodness of God.
I must rest in his promise that:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to end.
They are new every morning.
Great is his faithfulness.
Those words were first expressed in Lamentations at a time when the city of Jerusalem was leveled. They are finding fulfillment as the New Jerusalem is still under construction.
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3 comments:
What a helpful analogy, Dan. Thank you for the insights. I'm a visual learner, and your word pictures help me understand grief and God and renewal and so on much better. They also help me know how to pray for you and others I know who are in the midst of rebuilding. Thank you.
I totally agree with Becky. What an amazing word picture!
Our Father is with you and blessing you...
Praying for you as you rebuild a "new normal" and a new structure for your life. It is like building a new puzzle with some pieces missing and trying to figure out how to make the remaining pieces fit together somehow, I think. It is an awesome and sometimes daunting task to think of spending years building a new life that makes sense, but it is also a testimony to how much of the puzzle involved Nancy and a testimony to the love you shared. Praying for you every day - Cindy
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