May 7 is always a solemn day for us as we are reminded of the loss of Anna. The whole season is complicated, of course, by the nearness of Easter, the beginning of spring, the anniversary of the loss of my mother (May 2), and then Mother’s Day, which is always the next Sunday after the 7th.
In the past, Timberley and I have arranged to be away from home on Mother’s Day and have skipped out on the festivities at church. This year is different. We are at a new church, Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, NC. We have new responsibilities there. We have other travel planned not too long after Mother’s Day. But for whatever reason, we will be in church this coming Sunday. I think it will be the first Mother’s Day in a long while.
A common theme that I have written on over the years is the bringing together of suffering and hope. I was reminded of this last night when I met with a group of men from our church. We were sharing stories about knowing God’s will in the midst of difficult decisions at various points in our lives. One of the young men–he’s maybe not so young, but he is younger than I–shared about a time in his life, a three or four year period, where he and his wife really questioned whether they had made the right decision about something. They feared that they had moved far out of God’s plan for them. But through that difficult time, an opportunity emerged that would not have been there had they remained where they were earlier. It was clear to them that this new opportunity was the moving of God in their lives. In the midst of difficulties or suffering, our view of God’s work can be obscured, but it is there nonetheless.
With our loss of Anna, that bringing together of suffering and hope is so much more real, so much more vital. There is a tangible loss, a gap in our lives. Yet the hope in the resurrection is so much more tangible as a result.
We continue to miss Anna each day. On this day more so than others. Yet I suppose that we continue to have hope in the resurrection every day. And on this day, more so than others.
Anna resurget.
Maranatha.
Anna Resurget 