Levi

Levi has unexpectedly been on my mind a lot today. I think of him daily, but today things just struck rather painfully. Earlier today, I was out shopping with my mom and while browsing Mardel, I ran across the following poem in a picture frame:

The Broken Chain
We little knew that morning that God
Was going to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone;
For part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories,
Your love is still our guide;
And though we can not see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
And nothing seems the same;
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

The last 4 lines really brought tears to my eyes as I read them.

Then the sermon at church tonight was about God's sustaining grace during times of trials and turning to Him for peace. The teaching pastor repeatedly referenced trials that require God's grace to pull through, and how there will be situations in our lives that we cannot handle by ourselves without altering who we are for the worse, and those are the times that we must rely on God's strength. And my mind went to Levi and the way that God has given small bits of peace each time we turn to Him. I'll never understand why Levi was taken from us, and his memory is both precious and painful to me, but I cherish those memories. The closing song talked about God's healing, and as I glanced over to Josh, he was doodling Levi's name in his notebook. I laid my head on Josh's shoulder and felt his tears touch my forehead. Josh's mind was on Levi, too.

Levi, my beloved, I miss you.