At just after midnight I carried Emmaus and Ezra, the sleepers, down to the twin blowup mattress I'd prepared in the basement and the others climbed into the big bed in the guest room (Gabriel's room when he is home). The rumble of a pending storm outside startled me a bit as I slipped under the light covers beside Zion. Dennis' 4:45 a.m. alarm would be the only thing awakening him upstairs as the Littles slept soundly in the coolness of the bottom floor.
At 3 a.m. Zion gruffly spoke, "Bloody nose Mommy..." I pulled off my night-gown (the things we mothers do!) and held it to his face as we navigated passed the mattress and coffee table attempting to not bloody the bed and floor on our way to the bathroom. The light over the mirror revealed my night-gown still held to his nose, full of blood, and myself, almost naked and feeling vulnerable, as I soothed him. Surrounded by darkness, as I held our boy, I thought of the Iraqi mothers holding their bloody children, watching earthly death steal from them their hopes and dreams of a new day for their families and future and I cried.
This morning, to my astonishment, the sheets of the guest bed were white as snow, still beautiful and appearing freshly laundered as they'd been before the night. The day shone clear through the window where there was no trace of blood on the floor either. Only my night-gown, soaking in the sink, bore the evidence of Zion's struggle. Yet even the cloth of my gown no longer held the blood, the water had taken the stain into itself.
The jarring of the night led me to my Bible. Psalms, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Ephesians, the places in which I have found solace lately, did not draw me in. So I started at the beginning and read from Genesis 1:1-4 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness."
Beloveds, if this earth were it, the beginning and the end of us...if we were but physical beings thrown as dice, dependent on the luck of the spot on which we dwelt, despair could consume us. The sacrifices and selfless choices poured into each day would be for nought. But it is not! Our time on this amazing earth is only a small part of the real adventure. This current planet home which sometimes drains us deeply with sorrow and struggle is really just the guest room, preparing our hearts for home.
And we can be sure that joy comes after long nights because we know who made the morning and our hope is restored as we daily learn to trust God more. Death does not win, Jesus' love has overcome it through his blood. My acronym for HOPE today is this: Heaven's Offering Promising Eternity. There will be a time when blood, storms, sweat and tears are no more, that day is coming soon. Together we anticipate joy in the light of Jesus' love and promises.
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