Light is all around us.
But we only really see light when it is dark.

Such is the mystery of life.

It was darkness that moved me today to see the people I love more clearly.
To let my eyes linger on the gifts they actually are.
Because I’m aware that there is a wife of a Marine who doesn’t have that choice.

I know this because I am Facebook friends with her sister.
Her story has been hovering around me all week long.
It’s one of those stories you read about “out there” that gets lodged inside and wraps around your heart.

Her husband was involved in a sudden helicopter crash.
And with eleven other Marines, he has yet to be found. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/details-12-marines-missing-hawaii-helicopter-crash-36353034
And in the agonizing wait, she is not able to put her eyes upon the man she loves.

The one who accompanied her in sickness and in health, at breakfast and four births.
Missing.
The Darkness has removed him from her sight.
And yet because of that darkness, she has probably never seen him as clearly as she does right now.

It’s a mystery the way darkness does that.
Showing us what often goes unrecognized in the light.
And when it descends, it brings our gifts back into our sight.

And so, in in the midst of my prayers for this young wife, I vow once more to see my gifts.
Realizing they are temporary, I want to treasure each one.

It’s a vow that will soften in the light
Be bolstered by the darkness.

And move me to the only place where permanence can be found.

Maybe you’ll join me.
For help traveling in the dark, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Dark-Story-Takes/dp/0310337119/ref=la_B00IKAGCDG_1