Second Farewell

After losing his wife Denise earlier this year, RC Jr. just said goodbye to his 14 year old disabled daughter, who has gone to be with her Savior.  She has been made perfect.  She leaves behind sorrowing  sisters and brothers and father that she had taught something about the childlike wonder of God (Called To Wonder was written about this).  RC’s blog post was simple yet profound as he sat in the hospital with her earlier this summer and thought of his children alone at home.  Some time ago I wrote about how hard it is to see our children walk through difficult times.  I love what RC Jr.  wrote about this very topic and want to share his words, in answer to thinking about why his heart was heavy:

“Because I don’t trust my Father as I ought. I know that the fear that raced through me for those long hours when I didn’t know if she would make it, that fear was medicine for my soul. That is, I know that the immediate hardship I have been through this week is strong plant food for spiritual fruit. I trust Him to break my heart for the sake of making me more like Him. I trust in turn that He loves my little girl with a perfect love, that she, because she is my spiritual better, feels His loving arms holding her every day, in sickness and in health.

“It’s my other children I weep for. When their mother was dying, they had, by and large, their father with them. When she passed, I was there. The children have their physical needs cared for. The older children are amazing- giving, loving, and diligent. Meals are being brought in. We have help for this need and that. But my children, who love their sister as tenderly as their dad does, worry without me there. They have no mother to comfort them. I am not there to remind them how to trust, to model faith before them. That this breaks my heart, however, reveals my awful lack of faith.

“I am here and not there because He has brought this to pass. I am here for Shannon’s sake, for her good. I am here for my own sake, for my good. And I am here for the sake of Darby, Campbell, Delaney, Erin Claire, Maili, Reilly and Donovan. My Father knows what each of my children need. He knows how to grow the fruit of the Spirit in each of them. He knows precisely what they each need to become more like Jesus. And He has the power to bring this to pass. What they need right now if for me to be here.

“Loss of a mother, worry for a sister are not emotional meteorites hurtling haphazardly toward the psyches of my children. They are the plans He has for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them hope, and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Which, by His grace, are the same plans He has for me. By His grace I will hope in Him and praise Him, for the help of His countenance (Psalm 42:5).”  --RC Sproul Jr.

Pray for this precious family as they grieve this second great loss of a beloved one in the space of a few months.