Friday's Faith - The Bare Heart and Bare Gardens of Child-Loss Grief

Friday's Faith

The Bare Heart and Bare Gardens

of Child-Loss Grief

Almost five years since my child was taken

It seems my heart and my gardens lie bare

Amidst such dark death, will life awaken?

How does life amidst a child's death fare?

For constant Grief Work my heart did plead,

Such that my outside garden soon turned to seed,

That, or 'twas soon o'ertaken by weed...

Many think these are life lessons for all of us grievers to heed...

Yet with the ground inside my heart long fallow,

Wondered I, what must Thou be grooming in me?

Surely 'tis a work so deep and hallowed,

"Twill be a sight for sore eyes to see~

So no longer do I dwell in the Land of the Shallow

As my roots are now grounded deeply in Thee:

Cleansed by Death's Fiery Furnace, Your Love sets my heart aglow,

Polished by Death's Dark Cocoon, Your True Colors to reflect in me,

O Lord, that all may see Your New Creation, at last, springing up in me!

*****

"Sometimes the only way to become grounded is to hit bottom."

~Unknown

*****

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

~Ephesians 3:14-20, NLT

Pictures thanks to FotoSearch

Poem - The Bare Heart and Bare Gardens of Child-Loss Grief - Angie Bennett Prince - 6/2/2011

NLT - New Living Translation of God's Holy Word, (pronoun capitalizations, mine)