A hard day...

      I attended a very emotional Celebration of Life service today for a beautiful, vivacious woman who took her own  life last week. Her death came as a shock--not only for her family, but also for the community. She was a teacher and was also very involved in all of the activities of her three children. All of this, while dealing with the inner pain of depression.
     As her husband, parents (both still living and now elderly), five brothers and sisters, and each of her three children shared how much they loved her one at a time, I thought, "If only she could have heard this before she made the decision to end her life. If only she realized how much she was loved. Would it have made a difference?" I'm sure that they all told her many, many times. And the crowd of people who came to honor her--teachers, administrators, students, friends from church--certainly they showed her love, respect and admiration.
     "Could we have done more? Is there some way I could have helped prevent this?" So many questions, so much sorrow.

Help us, dear Lord, during the difficult times when we just don't understand, when answers are hard to find, when we lose someone precious and wonder if we did everything we could have done or should have done. You know our hearts. You see and feel our brokenness. Please use this tragedy to bring about positive changes in us and in the world around us. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen