Faith & daily life
At the heart of our faith is the belief that God meets us where we are in all the places and relationships in
which we live, work, play and relate. We pray, support and encourage one another as we grow deeper in faith
and learn to trust God with our whole lives. Some of us are new on the journey; others have been at it for
a while. All of us can find inspiration and hope in the stories of our fellow travelers. FAITH & DAILY LIFE will
be featured monthly with stories of God at work in YOUR life.
"Two Years..."
by Kati (Henderson) Gosselin
It has been two years. In my mind, life and memories are now marked by "Before
Dad Died" and "After Dad Died.” He was kind yet kickass, quiet yet goofy, patient
yet powerful, and everyone's source of calm. We have now lived our second year
without him.
The first year of grief contained a fair amount of shock and confusion, in addition
to sadness, joy, and figuring out how to live in the new normal.
Kati with her dad, Lee Henderson.
Lee was Church Council President of
Bethlehem (Minneapolis) when he died
in 2015.
When I think about the second year, what comes to me is that there have been
so many good things that have happened. We have felt so much joy, despite
continuing to feel the deep pangs of loss. In May, Mari and Josh got married. It
was one of THE BEST days. In September, Maya started preschool. The girls have
gotten so much bigger. I often think about how much fun my dad would have
with them now. We spent our second holiday season surrounded by our family
who continue to support and love us. In February we spent a week in Mexico
with my Henderson uncles and aunts. Traveling with them without my dad was
hard, but also so so so good. And finally, Baby Lucy joined our family. There's not
much to say about it except that babies are amazing and we all know that my dad
knows and loves her, despite not being here to meet her.
The hard reminder in all of this, once again, is life flows on. You can overwhelm
yourself with sadness and the what-ifs, or you can embrace the things that can
bring you joy in the here and now.
"These past two
years have been a
fight. But there
have been
moments of
amazing grace."
Do you have songs that so distinctly mark a certain point of your life? I have one
of those. I listened to it often in that first hazy year of grief, and every time I
did I cried. It is an instrumental "mash-up" of sorts. I think my dad would have
thought it was pretty cool. It is a Rachel Platten song, with the chorus lyrics:
...This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
I don't really care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me...
The Piano Guys combined this song
with none other than "Amazing
Grace."
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see
These past two years have been a fight. But there have been moments of
amazing grace. So in honor of my dad, I invite you to listen to "Fight Song/
Amazing Grace" (you can search for it on YouTube) and reflect on your own life-
the things you have fought for or fought through, and the moments of joy you
have experienced. When the bagpipes