We Live

I woke up this morning and couldn't get the lyrics to "We Live" by Superchick out of my head. I kept singing:
"There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)"
I then continued to sing the chorus:
"We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love"

So the first part of the lyrics is pretty depressing, right? Anyway, WHY I couldn't get that song out of my head didn't connect until later today when Jeff and David delivered our old, but still usable, washer and dryer to a needy family in our area. Last weekend, in an effort to clean out our storage unit, we decided to swap our washer and dryer for ones we had in storage from when our daughter, Blair, moved away. We then asked a friend of ours who works in an area of the county that is made up largely of single-parent, low-income families if she knew of a family who might be in need of our old but still functional washer/dryer. To our delight, she said, "Yes, I do!" Hence, the delivery today......

What we had no idea prior to today was the background of the family to which they would be delivering the washer/dryer. David and Jeff met our friend in the parking lot of the school where she works and proceeded to the family's home. They dropped off the appliances and as they walked back to our truck, our friend told David that the mother to whom he had just delivered the washer/dryer lost her 20-year-old daughter between Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year to a brain aneurysm. I didn't accompany David and Jeff for the delivery, but let me tell you that when David told me what had happened, I nearly fell to my knees! How awesome is our God that He would so beautifully orchestrate our lives that we could help another family who was in need and who had experienced a similar tragedy, although without the same results?

Even more affirming of His power was the fact that when I got in my car today (after David told me what happened), the song that was playing on the radio was "We Live" by Superchick! What struck me most upon hearing it was the following line:
"And tragedy's a reminder to take off the blinders
and wake up (to live the life)
We're supposed to take up (moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living"

Yes, tragedy IS a reminder to "take off the blinders"! I am eternally grateful to our Father who taught me through tragedy to view the world and to see His love differently. Would I change the course of events so that my son never experienced what he did? Of course! Would I want my own life to remain the way that it was prior to this journey? NO WAY! I truly see how God used "all things" to work for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose!