Happy March 1st! March, the month of memories.

March is already here?!?! This year is flying by!!  Or, is it slipping by??  I guess that would depend on your perspective.  For me, it is flying by.

March.  Wow!   Really?!?!

For many, March is "March Madness".  But, I'm not that into basketball, so that's not my focus.

March has been the dreaded month in our family for years as it is the month in which family members tend to die.

When I was in 2nd grade (1972), my grandfather died.  I really never got the chance to know him well, though he always put bows on our heads from gifts at Christmas or birthdays.  His library would make any bibliophile drool.  I got to know him mainly through my older cousins, my grandmother, and my dad.  I wish I could have known him better.  He came from a large family that grew up on a farm.  From those humble beginnings, he worked his way through life and school to became a lawyer.

When I was in 7th grade (1977) on spring break vacation, my aunt died at the young age of 33.  Because spring break vacation had really been canceled due to snow, us kids were told that if we went back for the funeral we would also have to go back to school.  It would have been a long trip from where we were, so we stayed while the adults went back and a friend of the family stayed with us.   My aunt was great!  She was still living in my hometown and I had been getting to know her more and more.  She and my uncle and my cousin lived in the "old" house that my grandparents had lived in, next door to where my grandmother was living.  Her death was tremendously difficult for me.

In 1988, my grandmother died.  I had graduated college, had married, and was living on Long Island at this time.  Of the three, I had gotten to know my grandmother best.  We were the only family left in the hometown so we visited with Nana quite a bit.  Nana taught me how to play gin and gin rummy.  She was a tough player to beat.  I don't think I won very often.  It didn't matter.  She would correct my grammar.   Maybe that's why I needed to pick up Spanish and French... English was too difficult for me and I kept messing it up.  Nana was the matriarch of the family.  She helped the family get together for Christmastimes in Colorado.  She helped my cousin and I take off down to Mexico one summer for one of the best trips ever!  Losing Nana wasn't easy.  It is never easy to lose loved ones.

So, you see.... March brings on many memories for me.  Starting early in the month and going through about mid-month.  Once we get past mid-month-ish, whew.   It's safe to breathe again.

But March doesn't only hold sad memories.

In 1989 a childhood friend from 6th grade married and I was in her wedding.  That brought something to celebrate in March.   Though I don't remember a whole lot from that celebration, I remember we wore blue dresses and had lots of fun getting ready. 

In 2004 I remarried, on March 6th (I have the hardest time remembering that date!).  This definitely brings something to celebrate in March.  The friend who married in March many years ago and her husband came and sang at my wedding (this was the 2nd time she blessed me with this gift--long story).  That was a blessing.  My new husband and I served communion to our guests as our first act of service as husband and wife.  That was a blessing.  A dear friend made our communion set.  I have shown a picture of it before.  Our daughter, 3 years old at the time, was our flower girl.  She was precious!  Friends, family, and coworkers made that day very special in many, many ways.

We took off to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, so that is another great memory for that same year in March as we hiked, snorkeled, ziplined, drove around San José in a rental car, rode horses, saw waterfalls, drank Costa Rican coffee....

March isn't all that bad.  It just sometimes feels that way.    When enough bad things happen around the same time, you start to wonder, you start to have that feeling. 

But, we are not left to have to live with that wonder or that feeling.  Even though terrible things happen, we can live through them with strength that flows from deep within.  I realize that sounds a little odd.  But I know it to be true.  I know it because I have lived it.  Not just once, but several times.

The time that it struck me most though was the first time.  Another family situation.  Not in March. 

It was summer time.  I was teaching summer sessions at the college where I worked and was interim youth director at our church.   One day I got a call.  My brother had been in a dirt car racing accident in our hometown and was in the hospital; he was not expected to live.  I later learned that the EMTs had covered him with a sheet on the track.  His car had split in two.  Anyway, he was not in good shape, in ICU in a coma.  I was living about an hour and a half north.  I drove down as often as I could, spending hours on the road and hours in the ICU waiting room.

Oddly, during this entire time, there was a deep peace inside me.  I listened to Twila Paris' "The joy of the Lord" as I drove back and forth.  There was much uncertainty surrounding my brother's situation and his life.  The injuries were severe and numerous.  My brother came out of that coma.  When he was able to speak again, he said that there must be a reason that he was alive.  He continues to have a tough journey because of injuries from that accident, but he is here.

The point here is that, for me, during the darkest of times... during the unknown and uncertainties...there was peace and strength that ran deeper than I could imagine.  That came in part from prayers, from the community of believers that surrounded me and supported me, and from my relationship in Christ as well.

So, when the hard times come... I'm counting on the community of faith, prayers, and Christ.  And, even if it sounds "odd", I will say "the joy of the Lord is my strength".

There IS joy in the journey!!  It's not some sort of puffed up, helium-filled balloon emotion.  Joy is something we can have through the good times and the difficult times.

It is a choice, though.  Something we have to decide that we want. 


May there be joy in your journey and may it provide strength for you!

~Debra

Here are two songs by two folks that have ministered to me greatly over the years!!

Twila Paris--"The Joy of the Lord"

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not falter, I will not faint
He is my Shepherd, I am not afraid
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
He will uphold me all of my days
I am surrounded by mercy and grace
And the joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord will be my strength
I will not waiver, walking by faith
He will be strong to deliver me safe
The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord,
The joy of the Lord is my strength

Michael Card-- "Joy in the Journey"

   There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...