Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12

Today is my birthday.  Not one of those milestone birthdays.  Just one in-between.  I’m not as excited about my birthday like I was when I was kid as I anxiously awaited parties and presents.  But this day is still my special day.  Birthdays are days to celebrate life and to anticipate many more years to come.

My brother Logan was just shy of his 49th birthday when he died suddenly of a massive heart attack.  While family members and friends gathered on his special day to memorialize his “almost” birthday at his favorite restaurant, our celebration was markedly different that year.  To celebrate what would have been is bittersweet at best.   To remember what will never be is in the very least agonizing.  Being together, however, did help bring a small bit of closure to our tender and aching hearts.

Psalm 90:12 says “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Life is short.  We don’t know how many days or years we have left.   Our “death day” is unknown to us.  God’s Word tells us to consider the shortness of our days which are only shadows of the life eternal.  Ponder what you want the rest of your life to be.  Gain God’s heart of wisdom through prayer and reading His Word so the choices you make today will positively impact the rest of your days.  Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first.  Determine your values and priorities and be true to them.  Live a life well-lived.

For those of us who have lost loved ones, birthdays, ours and theirs, are difficult days.  While these times are bittersweet as we recall birthdays that are gone forever, live in the present.  Dwelling on the past or being anxious for the future is futile.  Thinking of what might have been or what will never be is depressing.  Commemorate these special days in ways that both are meaningful and healing.  Spend time with those who matter most to you.  Spend time with the God who loves you.  Make each day count.  Life is too short not to.

Heavenly Father, I know You hold my days in Your hands.  I know not how long I have left on this earth until You call me homeward.  Give me a heart of wisdom so I can live each day to the fullest.  Help me to seek You first in all I do.  May my life be a celebration to Your glory every day.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
 

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Copyright © 2015 by Dawn Dailey.  All rights reserved.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

Days are dark and nights are darker.  Walking a path of grief may feel like we are meandering around aimlessly without seeing where our next step will be.  Life doesn’t make sense anymore.  We have questions but no answers.  Sometimes we have unformed questions we don’t even know how to articulate.  Our brains are in a fog.  On some days it’s just difficult to think, much less get out of bed.

Why does God allow bad things to happen to us?  There is no easy answer.  Perhaps He allows pain and suffering because through those difficult experiences, we learn to trust Him more.  The Lord desires us to be in relationship with Him.  Trusting Him with the painful circumstances of our lives draws us closer to Jesus and into a more intimate relationship with Him.

What does it mean to trust God?  The dictionary says the word trust means to believe, to have confidence in, and to hope.  Do you believe God is ultimately in control of your life?  Do you have confidence in His ability to take care of you?  Do you have hope that God will lead you on a path of healing?

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to place our trust in God.  To lean on His understanding means to rely on His wisdom through His word to us, the Bible.  Seeking Jesus in all we do, in all our ways, will enable Him to guide us on that straight and direct path to healing.  We won’t have to meander around anymore on a circuitous route where we wander around in our grief.  Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us to wholeness and peace.

Even though our sense of loss is great, God is greater still.  Trust Him.  Lean on Him.  Walk with Him on your path to hope and healing.

Dear Jesus, thank you that You desire to be in an intimate relationship with me.  Teach me to trust You more each day, to lean on Your wisdom and Your understanding, and to guide me along Your path to hope and healing.  Amen.


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Copyright © 2015 by Dawn Dailey.  All rights reserved.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

On a sunny spring afternoon, armed with my camera, I took a walk in my neighborhood.  I love to take photographs, particularly of landscapes.  That day, however, I was on a flower photo expedition.  I knew there were huge, beautiful roses close by and I was determined to break away from my to-do list and enjoy photographing them.  As I approached these gorgeous pink roses, I got distracted.  There were other flowers climbing along the same fence in companionship with these roses, some of which I’d never seen before.  But what really caught my eye wasn’t a flower, but a leaf.  It wasn’t just any leaf.  It was a perfectly heart-shaped leaf.  Most people would have overlooked this little gem.  You see, some insects had had a proverbial “field day” with this leaf.  It was riddled with holes.

Our hearts are like that leaf.  While around the edges, our hearts may be perfectly “heart-shaped”, just like they are supposed to be.  But upon closer inspection, we discover that there are many holes in our hearts.  For those of us who grieve, we have a hole in our heart where our loved one once lived.  Death has created a cavern there.  The deeper the loss, the deeper the hole.  For those of us who love much, we grieve much. 

Sometimes other life experiences riddle our hearts with holes, too.  Some are tiny punctures, not visible to the naked eye.  Others are gaping.  We all have broken places in our hearts.  To say we don’t is to live in denial.  Life is full of shattered dreams, disappointments, and losses.  If you are feeling like you are the only “walking wounded”, you are not.  Trust me.  You are in good company.  To be human is to experience loss.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.  God takes the holes in our hearts and heals them.  The Bible says in Psalm 147, verse 3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”  What a visual that verse is!  God takes our brokenness and He wraps His loving and healing bandages around our wounds, binding them tightly in His love and grace.  We are safe in the Great Physician’s mighty hands.

Lord, I know there are broken places in my heart.  There are holes, tiny punctures as well as gaping ones.  Wrap your loving bandages tightly around my wounds and bring me to a place of healing.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


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Text and photo copyright © 2015 by Dawn Dailey.  All rights reserved.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™