I have been a Christian my whole life, but I never really thought that much about the resurrection until Joseph died.
I just thought, sure, Jesus was resurrected, so will the rest of us be, blah, blah, blah.
Then Joseph died, and I had to really confront what I believe. It was like there weren’t high stakes before, but now my heart was riding on that belief.
I did a lot of thinking and scripture reading and pondering before I was able to come to the belief I have now.
I believe Jesus lived and died. I believe he was resurrected on the third day so that death would not be the end for us, either.
I believe that the love we feel for our families is one of the closest feelings we can have to God’s love, and that God not only wants us to feel that, but makes it one of the purposes of our lives here.
I believe that Joseph lived, here on earth, for that extremely small amount of time. I believe that he was never meant to live longer than he did here, but that he lives on in the next life. I believe that he is happy and cared for.
I believe that Jesus loves Joseph, too, and takes an interest in him and how he is doing. My mom drew this picture for us as we were mourning Joseph. I love the joy you can see in Jesus’ face.
One of my favorite things a nephew said about Joseph was, "Maybe God loved Joseph so much he didn't want to let him go."
I believe that my job now is to live out the rest of my life as a witness of God’s love and grace and I will see Joseph again when my time here is done.
I believe that these things are true for all the babies that have died. I do not believe that God lets any of the love and the aching we have for these precious souls go to waste. I believe he loves and cares for them as much as we do.
These beliefs have given me peace and the ability to find joy and gratitude even as I miss Joseph so much. They have also given me purpose as I learn to move forward.
Thank you for giving my beliefs some time and space. What do you believe?
