It is raining today.
Last year on this
day, September 2, 2012, the sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was shining
brightly, and white, cottony clouds dotted the blue expanse. We watched two
dozen pink and white balloons float up through that blue, "up to Heaven,
and to Olivia," as our then four-year-old son announced. It was as if God
sent the blue sky, bright sun, and white clouds to tell us that everything was
going to be alright, healing would continue to come.
Today, the sky is dark and the rain is coming down in sheets.
This is the hardest it has rained in weeks. It feels as if this time, God is
crying with us, telling us that it is okay to be sad today--to grieve--and that
He bears our sadness with us.
Two years ago today, Olivia Hope Miller entered the world
after 38 weeks of life in her mother's womb. Her precious little body,
beautifully and perfectly formed, was still. She weighed 5lbs., 11oz., but felt
lighter than a feather as she lay in our arms, unmoving, her soft, pale skin so
cold to our touch.
Two years later, our lives have moved forward. Though she
has gone on to Heaven ahead of us, her brief life here with us is still such a
part of who we are as a family and of who each of us is as individuals. Her
brothers and sisters, grandparents, and especially her mommy and daddy, have
been forever changed by the little girl whose eyes we never saw open and whose
voice we never heard.
She was loved and wanted and known by her family. We held
her in our arms for such a short time, but we will hold her in our hearts until
the day we each meet her again face-to-face and live together forever with our
Savior.
This day is a sad one, but it is also one of celebration.
Today, we celebrate a precious life, so brief and yet so full of meaning and
purpose. God had a plan for Olivia's life, and she lived it out for His glory.
Her life has brought healing and her memory brings joy. Though her loss makes
us sad, it has also taught us so much about love and sacrifice, joy and sorrow,
and about how to have a life lived abundantly for the glory of God.
It may be raining today, but the sun will be shining again
and the sky will be a brilliant blue once more. Maybe even tomorrow.
