Finding your way in the darkness...

Two women in my life are struggling today. Struggling with sadness. Struggling with despair. Hopelessness.

These two women don't know each other and live hundreds of miles apart, but each of them have their own pain to contend with today.

One of them has lost a baby in a late-term pregnancy. The baby was delivered and she was able to hold him one last time. Sadness abounds. She has been through so much with her older son. He had cancer and survived. Now this. She is strong though and she'll get through this. She knows how to plow through and keep living. Still...why?

The other woman is struggling in her marriage. The word Divorce has surfaced. Infidelity on her husbands part. Hopelessness and despair are living there now. Questions about her own self-worth and where she is in all of this. Kids are part of the equation and this makes it even harder. Questions about if the marriage will make it or not. Questions about if she wants it to survive. Lots of questions.

I don't know the pain they are feeling. I can be there to listen. I can pray. I can give support. What I do know is that when it seems God is silent in times like this, He is really working His plan. When a situation seems hopeless and you can't imagine ever feeling better than you do - you come out of it a stronger person. The stronger person part comes MUCH later. I know.

Where is the hope in these situations?

There is the hope that this Mom gathers her kids around her and is thankful for what she has and what she has already overcome in her life. She is strong. She has endured a lot. There is a reason even if it's not apparent right now.

There is a hope that this Woman who has many talents and abilities will discover that she is worth more than what she has been led to believe all her life. There is hope that she will pursue those dreams of hers. She will find herself in this. There is a hope that the guidance they are receiving will re-ignite the spark in their marriage and help them to heal.

Hopelessness finds it's way to Hope...slowly...slowly...but it's there. Sometimes you can't appreciate the sunrise until you have waited in the darkness. My hope is for these women in my life to find a little peace and a glimmer of light in their life today.

*photo courtesy of flickr