We Mourn. We Dance.

It is the difficult days--the ones where nothing seems to go right--that we can begin to understand our blessings.  Our attention is peaked when we desire nothing more than something to be in our favor, and it is it at that point we realize there is a bounty just waiting for our attention.  Yesterday was a peculiar day.  While Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" played at least one hundred times on the radio and dozens of red blooms were delivered to our office, I was recovering from a difficult phone call and a lingering cough.  Perhaps that doesn't sound so bad--and it wasn't.  It was not my day that was so difficult, but a friend's.

A friend of mine from work has been struggling with her husband's failing health.  For the past seven months she has watched him go from a fairly healthy 70 year-old man to a spindle of bones and a failing mind.  Recently his dementia has worsened, leaving peculiar thoughts in his head.  He has decided he's marrying his wife's coworker, Heather, and he's relentlessly called every family member and friend to spread his good news.  We've been able to chuckle about this, until yesterday.  He called me and proposed.  It was their 30th wedding anniversary yesterday.  No words could convince him that I already had a husband nor he a wife.  It took me saying firmly that I would not marry him, ending the conversation with him in tears.  I was spooked a bit, but mostly just hurting for my friend.  I called her to keep her informed, which only broke her heart more.  Her world is falling apart.  Her difficult day continues on.

Psalm 30:11 talks about God turning mourning into dancing.  Watching my own family endure health complications and experiencing Jesse's struggles with him have helped me see that God is capable of just that.  Sometimes He speaks to us through a beautiful sunrise.  Other times, he sends us encouragement through others in a note.  Without those difficult days, or weeks, or months, we cannot fully understand His love and grace.  We need perspective even if that means hurting to gain it.  And with those difficult days, will come dancing.