From Pain to Peace

As Sherri sorted the mail, the corner of a flyer caught her eye. She’d been seeing the flyer all around town, and she wondered what it was about. Shuffling the papers, she set the flyer on top for a better look.

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”

“Where is God when it hurts?”

“What happens after death?”

Sherri gasped. These questions were her questions: the questions that kept her awake at night, the questions she screamed at God from the cemetery. Immediately, Sherri knew she must attend the seminar advertised on the flyer—where an even bigger surprise was in store.

Sherri’s Journey

When Sherri was pregnant, a drunk driver collided with her car, causing a severe brain injury to her unborn daughter. When Jennifer was born, the doctors diagnosed her with cerebral palsy. By the time Jennifer was thirty, she was still 100% dependent on her mother for care. Sherri fed, bathed, and changed her.

Then, on September 4, Jennifer died suddenly. The family was shocked—she hadn’t even been ill. Sherri was devastated. Not only was she grieving the loss of her eldest daughter, but she felt lost herself. Who was she now, if not Jennifer’s caregiver? Every evening, Sherri visited her daughter’s grave to repeat the bedtime prayers they had cherished together. Somehow, even though Jennifer was gone, she still needed to care for her in that way. At night, questions kept Sherri awake: “Where is my daughter? Is she happy? Is she playing? Is she still with me somehow?”

Finding Answers

Then came the flyer in the mail, and the promise of answers. Sherri made certain to attend opening night, taking her 3rd daughter along. As the speaker introduced himself, Sherri was immediately impressed. Taj Pacleb seemed happy and full of spunk, but he was real and raw about his life’s journey. Then, something made her jaw drop:

“On September 4, I married my beautiful bride…” Taj told the crowd.

Sherri could hardly believe it. September 4 was the date Jennifer had passed away. Sherri was only attending this seminar because she wanted answers about death. What were the chances that the speaker would mention the exact date of her daughter’s passing? It had to confirmation from God Himself that this was exactly where Sherri needed to be. After that night’s session, Sherri approached Taj, and he prayed for her. “I felt more at peace during that prayer than in all the weeks since my daughter had passed,” Sherri says.

Sherri kept attending, and Taj’s messages about death cleared up a lot of her confusion. “It just made sense,” Sherri says.

But life change rarely happens in a straight line. After the seminar was over, Sherri and her family mostly returned to life as normal, and Sherri continued her daily cemetery visits. She still struggled, feeling lost and without purpose.

Then, a year later, someone knocked on her door—a Bible worker, holding a card she’d filled out at Taj’s seminar.  Would she still like to study the Bible?

As Sherri and one of her daughters studied with the Bible worker, Sherri made a new realization. “God had been speaking to me all along. Every time I asked my questions, His answers were right there. It just took time for me to really see them. Now, I’m at peace knowing that my daughter is asleep. She’s safe—out of the way of the harm and devastation this world can cause. And because of God’s mercy, I’m going to see Jennifer again.”

“I don’t believe my daughter’s death was God’s purpose,” Sherri says. “He doesn’t want us to suffer. But He was able to transform this painful circumstance into a stepping-stone. He used it to help me onto the right path. I respect and admire Taj. God is working through him. And I want to lead people to God, the way Taj led me.”

Praise the Lord—only His power can transform loss into gain and pain into peace!

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