Reflection from Kay Warren
On your birthday, I’ll paraphrase Henri Nouwen and say it was good for you to be born and be among us for 27 years, 8 months, and 5 days. Not all of those days were good; many were filled with pain and suffering - yours and ours. Yet your birthday reminds me of the goodness of God in this life. It was good that I was chosen to conceive you, carry you, birth you, nourish you, and nurture you. It was good that you had a daddy, sister and brother who embraced you and were willing to be fierce and loving bulwarks against the darkness of mental illness. It was good that you had some faithful friends who stood by you offering themselves as companions on the hard road. It was good that gave your gifts of passion, laughter, silliness, creativity and great love as freely as the illness would permit. Your 27 years, 8 months and 5 days here on earth were over far sooner than I could ever have imagined. But it is also good - so very good - that you had a Father in heaven who received you into a place where single days blend seamlessly into the next billion days. Where mental illness and sorrow of every kind are banished. Where scars are merely records of suffering finally overcome by the Victorious One. Where the trials and crushing weight of this broken world’s woes are now viewed through the lens of a sovereign God’s eternal plan. Where all your anguished questions and searchings have their answers. July 18, 2020. It is good to say “Happy Birthday in Heaven, my beloved Matthew. I’ll see you in a little while.”