This past week our church community experienced two very tragic losses. One of our pastors, Derek Taatjes, and his six month old son, Dylan, were taken up to Jesus late Thursday evening. Devastating, sudden, and seemingly unfair. My heart is broken for his family...his wife and their two little girls who will never see her husband, or their daddy again.
The question of "why" comes up constantly, and frustration ensues because in God's perfect plan for all of us, we'll never understand how something like this came to be.
Our entire church community gathered together as one this morning to worship, pray, and grieve together. I could barely see through the many tears I was crying when they were talking about the amazing things he's done in the church and how he has changed the many lives he's touched. Dylan, so small and tiny, was Derek's joy and he wanted nothing more than to be the best father he could be. Then, they spoke of Derek's wife, Charity, and their two girls, and my heart broke that much more knowing that these girls so young, and fragile may not yet understand what it means that their daddy will never come home...
All we could do as a community was listen, acknowledge, and praise God.
I am humbled and reminded how truly blessed I am for the gift of life God has given me, and the life I'm now carrying inside me. I know I take it for granted, and I really don't want to do that anymore. If anything can come of this sadness that I feel right now, it's that I want to be better than what I've been, and I know with God's encouragement and love, I can be.
Our pastor Rod spoke of Derek's favorite verse today and it seemed incredibly fitting...
Job 1:21
Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
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