The Hard Days

It's days like these that make it hard to be away from family & friends.  Early this morning, my best friend's father passed away.  I used to be able to make a phone call & hop in the car to drive to see a family member or friend when they needed me.  Now, over 6,000 miles away, it's an almost impossible task to get from point "A" to point "B" in time to help.  These are the hard days.  It's knowing that I can't hug my friend's neck, cry on each others shoulders, & give the support that I know he needs right now.  These are the hard days.  It's these days when I feel helpless as a friend because I can't be there for him.  These are the hard days.

But there is a Friend...He's the one that sticks closer than a brother.  He's the One that I know will bring peace to my friend & his family during this time of grief & loss.  Blessed is the "Spirit [who] helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."               - Romans 8:26 

He's also the One that has promised me that "there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."   - Mark 10:29-30

It's during these hard days that my faith grows stronger because my prayer life is richer.  It's during these hard days that the Spirit comforts my friend far better than I ever could have.  It's during these hard days for me...that God reminds me just how little time there is on this earth to do what He has called me to do.