The Story Behind the Poem
If you’ve been around here long enough, you may have noticed that I love describing feelings with color (humility, a loved one, seasons). These colors describe the prayer of one in pain. A deep pain that sadly, too many people have felt. The loss of a child. My dear friends John and Angie lost their baby girl. On her due date. It brings me tears to type that. They had made it past the worry zone. They were ready to greet their little darling at any moment! And then, with one final kick, she left this world, one she never knew, and entered a world we have yet to know. Her parents grieved her beautifully, never faltering in their trust of their loving Heavenly Father. Their testimony will live on far longer than Elizabeth did.
We visit her often and pray for you more.
The Colors of Prayer
in loving but painful memory of sweet Elizabeth
Love, Sarah
August 2014
Prayer is blue
Swallowed in tears
With devastating news
Unable to speak
For the grief that just grew
And grew
And grew
Prayer is black
Shadowed by pain
That bites as it smacks
Unable to breathe
Wails I try to choke back
And back
And back
Prayer is white
Rotating between
Knuckles clenched tight
And the cry of a heart
That stammers, “This just isn’t right,
Not right,
Not right!”
Prayer is gray
Heavy sighs blown
Murmurings pray
Eyelids locked closed
Soul tossed by dismay
And decay
And now delay
Prayer is green
Breathing life anew
As the sobs start to wean
And the roots of my faith
Grow close to His ravine
And glean
Soul cleaned
As the Lord intervenes
In triumph unforeseen!
this is beautiful Sarah. I met Angie when we were visiting Indiana a while back, I think it was soon after her loss. I remember marveling at her faith, and at her desire to continue living her life fully for the sake of her older daughter.
Her faith exudes from her face, her words, her entire existence.