Bitter Sweet

Dear Precious Ladies We thank God for all that He did for us in the month of April. The gift of life can never be taken for granted. It is not our right to be on earth as such. It is by His grace and permission that we are still here. We welcome the month of May with gratitude in our hearts. God has great things in store for us. He has things to get to us and also things to get from us, let us continue to yield to Him as He alone knows what’s best for us. I just want to share with you an unusual occurrence that happened to us as a family. On the 25th of April we received exciting news that our niece was blessed with a baby boy named Christian. We were very excited and shared the photos of our latest addition. Our family WhatsApp group was buzzing as we congratulated our first born sister, the mother of our niece Bessie. We thanked the Lord for the safe arrival of baby Christian and celebrated that Bessie was well. Bessie holds a very special place in our hearts as she is named after our mum. Also she is the first grandchild of our parents and our first niece. Her mum is called after her "Mai Bessie" just for you to see how excited we all were. It was a great day of joy indeed. Later as the day went by my sister Prisca, Bessie’s mum sent another WhatsApp message to inform us that Irene, our first cousin, passed away that morning. Irene had mental illness for about 20 years. This resulted in her losing her marriage and her post and she had to go back home to live with my aunt. On the 25th of April, Irene left my aunt’s house in the early hours but no one noticed because they were sleeping. She was found dead by the stream near my aunt’s house. Passers-by noticed a dead woman in the mud by that stream. We were all shocked and pained by how she died. My aunt had tirelessly looked after her and spent the past 20 years caring for her daughter who once used to be a Salvation Army officer before her mental illness. You can imagine how devastated she felt. Again our family WhatsApp group was buzzing with messages of condolences and trying to figure out how best we could help our aunt at this difficult time. So the 25th of April became a sweet and sour day. Rejoicing with my sister and niece whilst on the other hand mourning with our aunt for this tragic loss. We experienced the scripture that says …there is a time to be born and a time to die… (Ecclesiastes 3:2). What I learnt is that time is in His hands and life is a gift from Him. We have seen the faithfulness of the Lord who remains constant through all the seasons of our lives. Even though my cousin’s death was tragic, she has rested from the difficult life she lived for the past 20 years. My aunt is grateful for the grace she received to take care of a mentally ill daughter. We are also grateful for baby Christian. In everything we give thanks to the Lord. My sisters, even though we may not always understand why certain things happen the way they do, I want to encourage us to keep on trusting the one who knows it all. There is grace for every situation we face. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God. May the Lord go before you in this month of May. It shall be well with you and your families. You will continue to flourish. Much love Pastor Fatima