Hope Sings

Friends, while taking some time away with my family my dear friend, Kim Stanley is my guest writer for this week. Kim began walking the grief journey after the death of her daughter, Jordan. I believe you will be inspired and encouraged by her blog post today.

A gentle breeze is all it takes to persuade the wind chimes in my rock garden to begin their song. The pleasant, high-pitched melody crescendos as the wind picks up.

A gift given to us after our daughter Jordan passed away, their music didn’t always resonate well with me. I’ll admit that in the first days and weeks after she was gone, I ugly cried when I heard them. Sounding like a bellowing alarm announcing my new reality, I may have even covered my ears to cancel out what felt like bad tidings.

There are no shortcuts through grief. Covering my ears, or covering my heart, only keeps the sorrow at bay temporarily. Feel all the feelings. Cry all the tears—though it seems the more we let them fall, the more they produce. Perhaps we can think of them as holy raindrops.

We know from Scripture that God holds all our tears in his bottle and keeps them in his book, (Psalm 56:8). They must be precious to Him. As David offered his tears of anguish and Job his honest questions, so we too can proffer our sorrowful, suffering hearts to God in worship.

At times, that’s all we have.

That gut-wrenching surrender rises as a sweet aroma to our Abba Father. He receives it and assures us of his unwavering love. He is with us. Hope flickers as we hear Him sing his joy song over us:

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)

Hope sings to me every time the wind blows.

When tears fall, I cherish them as gifts of remembrance of a deep, deep love. And I whisper, “Hey Jordie! I love you so much and I miss you like crazy. I’ll see you soon.”

Kim Stanley is a worship leader, speaker, writer, and is the worship leader for Touching Hearts Ministries. She and her husband Joe have been in itinerant worship ministry for over 30 years. She is the founder and director of One Thing Worship, a retreat ministry for women that provides sacred time and space to be still and hear the voice of God. She also co-hosts a “A Burst of Hope” Podcast. She and Joe have been married for 40 years; they have 4 grown children, one in heaven, and 6 grandchildren. They live in the south metro Atlanta area. You can connect with Kim on her website, www.joeandkimstanley.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @onethingworship.