Two-minute read.
When my sister died, my brother couldn’t leave the graveside after the service. Sitting alone beside her casket, the thought of lowering her body into the ground and leaving her overwhelmed him. A sorrowful moment, her death devastated us all. Diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer the day after Christmas, she battled hard for a year and a half, dying Aug. 18, 2001. We had the same father, but different mothers. Her mom died of the same disease almost 37 years to the date, on Aug. 6, 1964.
Less than a month after we buried my sister, 9-11 happened. Terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven people, not including the hijackers, didn’t go home to their families that night. Our country experienced a devastating loss that cut to the core. As I lay in bed that night, afraid of what would happen next, tears flowing down my cheeks, I thought of my sister, and for the first time since her passing, I thanked God she didn’t have to live through the horror of the attack.
Soft-hearted, my sister possessed a kind soul. She felt other people’s pain and cared deeply for them. Always loving, Lorn lived with a quiet grace, a tinkling laugh, and an easy smile.
Twenty-four years later, the seeds planted in tears when my sister died have become shouts of joy that I had such a fantastic woman in my life to help guide and direct my path. Knowing we will meet again in heaven and that the love we shared never died helps me persevere on tough days. Her last words on Earth give me hope for what’s to come.
“It’s so beautiful,” Lorn said as she gazed into heaven before taking her last breath. What we sow in tears, we will reap in shouts of joy.
Journal Questions:
How have you sown in tears?
In what ways have your tears turned into shouts of joy?
What pain do you need to give God today?
Joyful Application:
Let your tears become shouts of joy as you give your pain to Jesus and let Him heal your wounds.
