Making Sense of it All...

Please note: If this is your first time visiting our blog, please click here to hear the premise of Pass It On, Baby! and how it all began.... Pass It On, Baby!

Life sometimes seems unfair. Somehow we all know that and make our way in the best way we know how. We trust in God’s purpose for us all, and that the trials and tribulations that befall us are learning experiences and opportunities to grow and become who we are meant to be. But that doesn’t change how bitter the moments can be when faced with another of those times that remind us again of how unfair life can seem.

My heart is heavy today, my oldest son’s friend’s father passed away. He was young, fit, in good health and the father to four. We had my son’s friend over last evening to spend the night and have a chance to catch his breath through the grief. The great thing is that kids are resilient…and adults? Not as much. As I thought of the mother, telling her children, taking the next steps alone – my heart broke and I was again reminded of how unfair life can seem.

I’m no stranger to this feeling, when I read some of the stories we receive here from Pass It On, Baby!, my heart breaks. I wonder how some of these mothers and children can endure so much. It’s almost overwhelming when I allow myself to really let the feelings in. I found that I’ve stopped asking the “why” questions and now just accept that terrible things DO happen, and they happen to people who are good. For me, there is no point in the “why”….those answers belong solely to a Higher Power. My questions now come in the form of “what”. What can I do to help? What do they need?

And so it goes….Kindness flows through even the darkest of hours. That is how I find God in the worst of times. My son’s friend’s family is completely overwhelmed with food. They literally can’t take anymore. That makes me smile. Many people, feeling equally as helpless, did what they could. The same is true with our Pass It On, Baby! community. I wish I could tell you how many times we have heard from mothers whose own hearts were broken upon hearing or seeing the stories of children in need. They do what they can. They reach out in kindness. They send their own kiddos clothes along, even when they themselves are just a niche above struggling themselves.

I know people say that the world is a cold, hard place. I’m not buying it. There are bad things, inexplicable things that happen – but there is good in the face of it all. I don’t know about you, but I always root for the underdog, the one who needs the hand. I love shows like Extreme Make-over: Home Edition….I cheer along with those being helped. I know that it’s unfair that they are in the situations they are in, but I also know that I see it that way because I don’t understand the Master Plan. When the underdog does triumph – its an unbelievable feeling! And maybe a little more of that Master Plan being revealed….

I also know that in my moments of struggle, I grow. I become a different person, a better person – and hopefully, a more understanding person. These tough moments are a turning point for so many of us….in the end, they define our character. When Heather and I wrote about a family who lost everything in a fire, we had a woman reach out and tell her story to us. She had been in the same horrible situation, felt the same grief, sorrow, heart-ache, but had healed, and was now ready to reach out to help another through. Maybe that’s why we go through the tough moments that we do….maybe we go first to help another one after us and show us the way. [There is a HUGE parallel that I’m feeling here…but I have to be careful not to get too preachy….LOL! Especially when I’m such a work in progress….(ask my kids! =) ]

Back to my thoughts, before I got a little off topic….If each of us were untouched by sorrow and heartache, what type of understanding and empathy would we have? Do you think that we walk through these different trials so that each of us bring a different understanding to the world?

Pardon my random ramblings today….I guess I’m just trying to make sense of it all. Like you, I have no answers. I do have some faith along the way, a bigger wanting to do good, and the renewed knowledge that tomorrow is promised to no one. Sooo – since we only have this moment…become the person that you want to be today…..

In love and kindness,


Email Elizabeth & Heather