Remember, Reflect, Refresh

We decided to take a last minute trip over Spring break this year to use it as a time of refreshing for our little family. It is hard to believe it has been a month since we met and said goodbye to our sweet Sophia. It has certainly been a time of grieving, but we have also had to be very intentional to not let our grieving overtake our lives because we have a sweet little two year old who doesn't really understand what is going on, and still needs her Daddy and her Mama. Taking a little trip seemed like the perfect way to give ourselves some time away and make some fun memories with Stella. The morning we left my Mom texted me and told me to take the time to Remember, Reflect, and Refresh. I have been thinking about that all week, and it has helped me so much. Remember - It is so easy when something difficult happens in our lives to want to forget the pain, but we must remember. God uses the difficult seasons in our lives to mold us into what He wants us to be if we will let Him. It hurts, but we must remember the pain, so that we can see how God has brought us through. Reflect - God has been so faithful to us, He has shown Himself in so many ways over the past weeks. Recently, I have found myself just sitting and thinking about all the little ways that God has shown that He is with us. From the generosity of complete strangers, to Scripture put on our hearts in the days before, to having my Dr. on call for Sophia's birth. In a million little ways we heard gentle reminders that He was with us. It doesn't take away the pain, but it reminds us that we are not alone . Refresh - We needed some time to just be. Time when we didn't have emails to write, and laundry to do. We had fun with Stella and made so many memories with her. There of course, was an undertone of sadness because we so wish that we were making these memories with both of our daughters, but we have learned so intimately that life is fragile, and that we only have today so we must make the most of it. We refresh our souls by doing the things that really matter. We read Scripture, laughed, and had long talks about what is ahead. The truth is we don't know why we had to lose Sophia, and we don't know what the future holds. But, we know that there is one who holds the future, we know that He is good, and we know that He will be faithful to His children.