It's my birthday month.
In 8 days I'll be 36.
Let's not talk about how I still feel twenty something.
I LOVE celebrating birthdays.
When I turned 30 I had a fiesta themed party.
I haven't done much to celebrate since then.
I thought I'd have my little girl to celebrate with this year.
A big part of me wants to hole up for the day and just be sad.
But I feel like I need to commemorate the day.
I have been very transparent with my grief.
As a result I have had many people reach out with their story -
stillbirth, miscarriage, death of a child, death of a parent, separations and divorce, addictions, etc.
We are all broken.
So for my birthday we are all going to trade our sorrow for joy.
That is what I want.
Even if it's just for a moment.
Write down your thing -
for me it's the loss of Naomi Grace -
then throw it into a flame.
After that roast a marshmallow.
Make a s'more.
Eat it.
Enjoy it.
Do it with some friends.
Do it alone.
Use a candle.
Use a campfire.
Find joy in that moment.
It's not going to magically fix any of us.
But we can symbolically hand our thing over by
throwing it into the flame.
I have no doubt that 36 will be much harder than I ever anticipated.
My grief journey is just beginning,
but I'm not going to let it suck me into the abyss.
I'm going to fight through this.
June 10, 2017
Let's all do this together.
Sorrow and brokenness into the flame.
We will come out purified together.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4
"Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow." Jeremiah 31:13
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
It is Well - Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music
