I was standing on the banks of Lake James in Angola, IN while my friend lay dying many miles away. As the water rippled up to the shore, the waves of grief washed over me. The November wind blew strongly in my face and through my pants, harsh and cold like the disease that ripped through Lori’s body—a reminder that life is harsh and cold.

I leaned against a tree and sobbed. The words to a chorus came to mind, “As your love in wave after wave, crashes over me, crashes over me. For you are for us, you are not against us. Champion of Heaven, You’ve made a way for all to enter in.”* I stood there and let his love wash over me as I believe it did over my Lori. And the stillness of the moment quieted my tears.

Harsh wind and gentle waves—grief and love together at the same time. The wind comes and goes but the waves are constant. In the midst of the biting winds of life, God’s gentle waves of love will remain long after the wind dies down.

*You Make Me Brave by Bethel Music