It's February and I thought I would write about love this month. But then the first thing I did in February was attend a memorial service.
Yesterday's service honored two members of The Well Community, a center for low-income folks who have chronic, debilitating mental illness. On Monday morning, one of the ladies passed away after a battle with various medical issues. And on Monday afternoon, the other lady was unable to contain her grief, and lost her struggle with depression.
As I was listening to the tributes from those who knew these two ladies, I kept hearing these hymns in my mind:
Oh Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee.
Jesus loves me, this I know...we are weak, but He is strong.
When we can't hang on, He hangs on to us.
When things are too hard, too overwhelming, we rest our weary souls in Him.
So that's not candy hearts and red roses for February. But it's the real deal. In real life, sorrow and love go together.
And wherever we walk, in sorrow and in pain, even in the valley of the shadow of death, His love never lets us go.