JOHN AND PRINCIPESSA

Today is my niece Alivia's birthday. She turned five years old, and she was just four months old when her father, my oldest brother, passed away. It seems like yesterday that our family was planning his funeral, and now his beautiful daughter is as old as a hand full of fingers. It's hard to understand "why" a good God would take a baby's father at such an early age. And while it is difficult to understand, I try not to question it because it was part of His perfect plan. I can confidently say that we as a family never dwelled on the "why, but rather the "what." What did God want us to learn from this tragedy?
Many may have difficulty with this point of view, and I understand because dealing with something as tragic and sad as death can be a huge road block for believers, as well as non-believers. Why would a Good God allow something like death to take someone so young? To be completely honest, I don't know. I'm just not trying to figure it out.
If I were to ask that question, I would have to ask him "why" all the time. Why would a good God allow that blessing in my life? Why would a Good God allow the birth of my sweet little niece? You see, when things happen that we can't understand, we can't dwell on the "why's." Who are we to decide what is good or not? We can only see through our earthly eyes, and God's purposes in this life are for the heavens.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways, My ways ----says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways. And my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
We will never understand the "why" because God's gracious thoughts and ways exceed ALL human comprehension. It's not "why" but "what" for me. What I learned through my brother's death, and his daughter's 5th birthday, is that we need to be thankful for all things, good or bad. For in my brother's death, I saw faith tested, tried, and purified. And in my niece's 5th birthday, I see twenty simple reasons why I don't ask God those "why" questions. And they are all in the form of her precious fingers and toes. Thankful for the last five years of her life,and thankful for the next five years of mine.
~~~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCIPESSA~~~