Please Pray

I was met with the greeting "I've got some bad news" by my friend Carol at church Sunday. The only child of our friend, Sharon, had been killed in a car accident. He was 22 and he's gone. I don't have children, and I cannot imagine what she and her husband are going through right now. This is every parent's nightmare. Some are lucky enough to experience only the fear. Sharon and Tom are living their fear right now. The calling hours are tomorrow and the funeral is Thursday. I am dreading both. This is SOOOOO selfish, but I find myself sad also because I wonder if we'll ever have Sharon back. I don't mean attending church, I mean with her goofiness and fun. She was always so fun and bubbly and LOVED being with people. She is honestly one of my favorite people to hang out with. My heart breaks for her. My friend Brandi and I prayed last night and she prayed that Sharon would be like Naomi from the book of Ruth in the Bible...when Ruth's sons died she called herself "Mara" or bitter. However, eventually, through the Lord's grace and redemption, she was able to laugh again.
I also got to speak to a neighbor today who shared with me that she had just lost her mother last month and she was still devestated. It just reminds me how unnatural death is. We all know it's inevitable, yet we're shocked and surprised and angry and grieved and a myriad of other emotions when it happens. It doesn't make sense. I am comforted by the simplicity of knowing that it's not natural to God either. Death was never His plan, and I believe that this grief we experience testifies to this truth. Death is His enemy and death is what He fought to destroy on the cross:
"Death is swallowed up in victory;
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?" I Corinthians 15:54-55
Hmmmm...well, don't know what else to say. If you're reading this before Thursday, please pray for the parents, Tom and Sharon, and for Tim (their brother-in-law) who will be doing the funeral service, as well as for the rest of their family and friends. And if you're reading this after Thursday, please continue to pray for this family and I ask you to specifically pray that the Lord would put a song in Sharon's heart...she has always been a singer and I'm praying that the Lord will comfort and draw her near to Him through music. And for Tom, please pray that his broken heart will lead Him to the Lord who calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life. Hope.