"Next" Reed

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”  Philippians 4:8 NIV

     Nothing brings back a child lost.  Jordyn died 16 years ago.  She has now been gone longer than she was alive.  That still seems crazy to me.  I have struggled through many days thinking about her and hurting so bad it kind of skips past the emotional and can become physical pain. 

     But,… four years ago we became grandparents.  It was not a smooth transition.  Harlee had to take an airplane ride to a hospital equipped to help her breathe on the night she was born.  We did not meet her for over a week.  When they finally handed Harlee to me it was one of only a few times in over 10 years I felt like I was not experiencing something through the lens of loss.  It was all joy.  Harlee went ahead and took over our life at that point, and she has not relinquished the role. 

     But,… two years ago she got a brother named Oliver.  He was born with the same breathing issue as Harlee but this time they were able to get past it without an emergency plane ride.  Although knowing Oliver he would have loved that experience.  While Harlee is still the queen, Ollie does not really recognize her as the sole decision maker.  He gets his way quite often.

     I started praying for Harlee Logan Reed several months before Aly told us she was pregnant.  Right after Harlee was born, I added our next grandchild to the prayer requests.  I had zero information other than I knew they wanted more than one child.  So, I started praying for the next grandchild.  I just used the name “Next”.  When Oliver Jordyn Reed was born, I repeated the process.  I knew they wanted more than two children so I started to once again pray for the “Next” Reed. 

     Well as God would have it, now we have another “Next”.  Somewhere around the middle of September, we will get to meet our third grandchild.  I am sitting here staring at that last sentence and my heart feels somehow like it might explode.  It deserves to be re-read, “Somewhere around the middle of September we will get to meet our third grandchild.”  I know some people have more, some don’t have as many, but…we’re going for three.

     We have known for a while, but such news is usually kept quiet until the parents are ready to make the announcement.  They are now ready, so Aly gave me permission to write about it.  While it is true I have told very few people in Hays – just a few armored up prayer warriors we have in our life, I have admittedly been telling people since Aly told us she was pregnant.  I work out of town.  People in Wichita do not know us.  People all over my territory have no ability to tell other friends since they don’t even know them.  So, just like I did for the first two, I tell people on the road all day.  It’s fantastic to increase joy in the mere telling of a blessing only God can provide.  I have learned many things in the four years since we first became grandparents.  Most importantly, joy is eventually stronger than grief. 

What joy do you have?  If you have to think about that, please do.  It can be  everywhere, even in the middle of hard things.  I think sometimes we make the mistake of only looking for large, obvious pieces of joy that solve something.  Sometimes joy hits in small moments like a cup of coffee with your wife.  It may not solve anything, but it can change your perspective.

What pain do you have?  When you are in a hard place, remind yourself of even one thing of joy in your life.  I am not delusional, it does not make pain go away, but it will give it a good old fashioned fight by changing your perspective.

Challenge:  Life is hard sometimes and not everything ends in a positive.  But, take hold of the truth that Jesus reigns.  Evil will be cast into the fire.  Pain will abate.  Joy will abound.  Next Reed is on her way.