How to Cope With Loss

I told you I wanted to share some of my stories from our vacation, and today is the first one.

On our vacation, we went to Disneyland. Yes, we went there again. I know, some of our friends think we're crazy, but we love Disneyland. Its a great place for us.

While we were there, our daughter, Faith, wore a cute little pink visor almost every day. It said, "25% cute, 25% sassy, 25% something, 25% something (I forget), 100% princess". Its a cute visor. And she loved to wear it.

Well, at the end of the day, after we had been at the park for about 15 hours, we had to get on that train/tram thingy and ride back to the parking lot to get our car. As we were riding, Faith became aware that she didn't have her visor, and became quite upset. Apparently, she had set it down somewhere in the park, and forgot to pick it up.

Obviously, this did not sit well with her, and she began to cry a little bit. I know, its only a visor, but she's 6, it was a long day, and she was hot. Crystal and I tried to console her, to no avail. And then, it happened. My 9 year old son Gabriel offered his wisdom to the situation- "Faith, if you love something, set it free".

Then she really started to cry. I'm not sure if it was because of what Gabe said, or because of our uncontrollable laughter, but she wailed, and we laughed harder. It was so hilarious to hear that nugget come out of my sons mouth.

I know the blog title is about coping with loss, but on some level I think this story illustrates a truth about all of our own condition. We all have things that we love and cherish, and at times we lose them. Its not easy, or fun, but it happens. It may be something big or small.

Gabe's truth has an encouragement for us all. Sometimes, when we relinquish our own need to control and possess that which we truly love, we show our ability to truly love it, by setting it free. In a Christian connotation, it could be manifested by giving something over to God. Its hard. Its not easy, but sometimes its the best thing we can do.

Is there something you need to set free today? Something you need to let go of? A thought, a pain, a person? Let it go to God today and put it in his hands and watch what he can do with it.

Oh, and we bought Faith a new visor.

Blessings
matt