Sunday, April 5, 2015

A parent's loss

Heather has often shared with me and others how grateful we can be because we have a Heavenly Father who knows the pain of losing a child. On Good Friday, our Savior not only took the physical punishment due to us by going to Golgotha, but also the spiritual separation from God the Father. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" the Father and Son experienced something far more painful than the flogging or nails through the hands--they experienced separation from one another. As much as we earthly parents grieve the separation from our children, I don't think that any of us can approach the suffering felt by the Father and Son in that separation. While our did not purpose or desire the separation that we grieving parents now experience from our children, the Father and Son planned that suffering. We can be so grateful that God planned it, from the beginning, for our redemption as his chosen children. On this Easter, we are worshiping our Savior, through whom we have the hope of redemption, and not just the redemption of our eternal lives, but the redemption of the sufferings we experienced through the death of our child. Picture taken is at Micah's grave, with our living children Owen (4), Brendan (3) and Kinsley (2).