Darin

I lost my cousin a year ago today. We all sure miss you!

(Darin & his family)

Darin was in his prime.
Surely it was not his time.
You say You are just; not cruel. not mean.
But, we can't understand why You didn't intervene.
Even though I've been walking with You for a while, I can't seem to find my smile.

With my doubt, I mean no disrespect. This is how my aching soul reflects.
All we feel is sorrow, yet You call us to follow.
Before I start to build against You my case, grant me Your amazing grace.

As we face one year, we've felt yet another tear. Please show us You are near.
We want our loss to make some sense. We need to be in Your presence.

Pain, Grief, loss
Come heal us with Your Cross.

(Darin next to me and other cousins when we were little.)


God, somehow bind up the broken-hearted and show us You never departed.
When there are no words to pray, help us trust that You will stay.


With Your love please redeem, this tragedy that feels like an awful dream.
Until You return, or call us home, help us stand on the love that You have shown.

(Darin on the farm with his kids.)

Lord, we continue to feel a great ache but keep going for Your Name's sake.

Show us Your promise that we are never alone and that this earth is surely not our home.

Please show us Your glory as You write this redemptive story.
When this seems too hard to face, remind us of Your sovereign grace.

(Darin & us cousins riding on the farm as kids.)

Though it can hurt to think of him, our memory of Darin will never dim.
Jeremiah 29:11