I woke up this morning feeling week and a bit confused. I had dreamed about Chuck...and it seems that I dreamed all night with little rest. I've been dreaming about him all week, which I find unusual. When Mom died, I never dreamed about her. I wanted to dream about her because I wanted to be with her again, experience her again. Yet nothing. With Chuck, I've dreamed of him every night this week. The dreams are kinda the same...he's dying but something miraculous happens...he'll sit up and start walking...one time he was raised from the dead. Last night's dream was different in that he had definitely died...but I kept waiting for him to come back.

In any case, when I woke up I thought...I need a verse on God's faithfulness for today...I need to remember he is always good to his word. Alas, as is often the case between me and God, he had other plans for me. My dear friends Bob-O and Sue sent me the PERFECT verse. "Jesus wept." (John 11:35). I'm including the devotional they sent that goes along with the verse. It has become even more beautiful and comforting to me that I ever could have imagined:

He Weeps With Us
Jesus . . . weeps. He sits between Mary and Martha, puts an arm around each and sobs. . . .
He weeps with them.
He weeps for them.
He weeps with you.
He weeps for you.
He weeps so we will know: Mourning is not disbelieving. Flooded eyes don't represent a faithless heart. A person can enter a cemetery Jesus-certain of life after death and still have a Twin Tower crater in the heart. Christ did. He wept, and he knew he was ten minutes from seeing a living Lazarus!
And his tears give you permission to shed your own. Grief does not mean you don't trust; it simply means you can't stand the thought of another day without the Lazarus of your life. If Jesus gave the love, he understands the tears. So grieve, but don't grieve like those who don't know the rest of this story.