Sometimes You Have to Go Through Good Friday to Get to Easter~Remembering Sarah

     Today marks 15 years. Fifteen years since we sang our sweet daughter, Sarah, lullabies as she left our warm embrace for the heavenly hands of Jesus. She was only nine and 1/2 months old, but the length of her life did not determine it's impact. Tonight as I miss her precious smile, I am reflecting with gratitude on the ways God used her short life to change me profoundly and permanantly. Here is a piece I wrote shortly after her death. It is my prayer that some of these lessons will touch your heart. That in some small way, her life will bless you, too. 
     I love you my Sarah~I can't wait to see your smile again.
                                       

                                   What God Taught Me Through Sarah

I’ve learned
that you can sometimes be a great witness for the Lord without ever saying a word.
I’ve learned
that sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.
I’ve learned
that there are alto worse things than death.
I’ve learned 
that watching your child suffer is the most difficult thing a parent has to do.
I’ve learned
that the best doctors are usually people you’d want for best friends.
I’ve learned 
that we have children with the idea that we will teach them about life; when 
teach us so much more.
I’ve learned 
that no matter how much I love my children, God will always love them more.
I’ve learned
that the miracle of dying can be as beautiful as the miracle of birth.
I’ve learned
that God never promised it would be an easy journey, just that He’d be with us every step of the way. 
I’ve learned
that we will never be able to answer our most desparate “why’s” in this life.
I’ve learned 
life can deal us the cruelest blows when we least expect it. 
I’ve learned
grief never ends, it just gets different.
I’ve learned
that God does give us more than we can handle, but never more than we can handle with Him.
I’ve learned 
that the more we think we understand God, that the less we probably do.
I’ve learned
suffering can make your faith, love and hope stronger, if you give it to God.
I’ve learned
nothing feels better than holding your child in your arms.
I’ve learned
sometimes the smallest in body are the largest in spirit.
I’ve learned
when your child is sick, nothing else matters.
I’ve learned
that a healthy child is not only a blessing, but a miracle.
I’ve learned 
sometimes when you think God is the furthest away, He’s really the closest.
I’ve learned
real friends stick by you, even when the going gets tough. 
I’ve learned
that most people are extremely generous and want to help.
I’ve learned
you can feel the greatest joy and the deepest sorrow at the same time.
I’ve learned
you can never take too many pictures of your children, sing too many lullabies, hold them too long, or love them too much.
I’ve learned
no matter how terrible a situation is, God can bring good from it. God is the good in everything. 
I’ve learned 
sometimes you have to stop asking “why?” and ask “what?”~ “What does God want me to do with this situation?”
I’ve learned
you have to go through Good Friday to get to Easter.