Today I received really heavy news.  A long time friend died in a motorcycle accident this week at the age of 30.  The news hit me really hard.  My heart is broken for the family, and as a friend I'm overwhelmed by the loss.  Death and grieving are hard realities, and experiences that are only intensified when they come 'before their time'. 

A couple weeks ago I had an opportunity to visit my sisters grave.  It was the first time I've been there since she passed away two years ago, and it was a precious moment.  She, like Arthur, was only 30 when she died.  I remember standing at the graveside feeling an unspeakably deep sense of loss.  It was so obvious that what I needed in that moment was beyond me (as was the case many times when Jayda was sick, and never more than the days surrounding her death.)

While Jayda was sick I wrote a song called Overwhelmed.  It came as a very honest prayer in response to the notion that "God will never give us anything we can't handle".  I believed that all my life.. until Jayda got sick.  Truth is, the three years surrounding her sickness were full of moments where I felt completely overwhelmed.  I quickly began to realize that we're not promised a life free from anything we can't handle.  The promise is that he will never leave us, or forsake us.  Each time I sing this song I embrace this truth remembering how often I find myself in situations that require something beyond me.  These moments of complete humanness are many, and they aren't going away.  I have also learned that God will forever be faithful to meet me, guide me, and even carry me in each and every one of these moments.  Overwhelmed is a heart cry. Today I lift it up especially on behalf of Arthur's friends and family.  As well, may it become a prayer for many who find themselves overwhelmed whatever the situation.

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