Walking Through

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

That is probably one of the best known Bible verses, right after John 3:16.When you read it what do you focus on?
No need to fear even when days are dark?
There is a valley of death somewhere?
God will get us through even the worst of times?

Recently I read the verse in a whole new light. My focus word is 'through.'

Our family is going through very dark days with the death of my sister-in-law, Susan. She was only 46 and died in a tragic accident while on vacation with her family in Hawaii.

We are going through that valley of the shadow of death. But I choose to focus on the fact that we are, indeed, going through it! We will not park and live there forever. We will push forward every day. And even when the day is so dark that we can't seem to see what lies ahead, we will push anyway.

We are forever changed, but we are not ruined. We are not dead. We are not incapacitated. We are grieving, it is hard, but as we push through this grief we will find ourselves arriving at the other side and knowing joy again.

Oh, Good! You're Home!!

Recently my son, Logan, was asked to help out a friend by driving him to his grandparent's house which is over 2 hours from here and in another state. I wasn't so nervous about it except that Logan couldn't leave town until he got off of work that evening. This meant he would be returning home alone in the very late hours of the night/early hours of the morning. I tried not to be worried and asked him to come in and let me know when he got home.

Late that night I was awakened by a tapping on my shoulder as Logan stood next to my bed. I was very much asleep, but even in my groggy state of mind I felt joy that he had made it home safely. In a rather chipper voice I said, "Oh good! You're home!!" In my mind, I thanked God for getting him home safely and quickly drifted back off to sleep.

As I thought about those 4 little words the next morning, I found it sort of funny that even though I was so tired, those words came out with joy. "Oh good! You're home!!" I thought about the comfort and peace I felt knowing that he was back in our home.


And then I imagined God saying that as I enter heaven. "Oh good, Dianna! You're home!!"


I honestly LOVE life here on this earth, but my heart longs for home. It longs to be held by the Father. It longs for the peace of knowing I am finally home.