Richer by Fire.

I would never choose heartache and yet I can't deny that there is a certain richness that enters into a relationship that has gone through some sort of hardship, pain or tragedy... a shared knowing; a greater understanding of what it means to love.  It is no wonder then, if I can see this in my human relationships, that a heavenly one with a God who knows exactly what will bring a realtionship together and what will destroy it, allows a certain amount of difficulties to enter into the lives of his beloved children.  My relationship with my heavenly Father isn't what it was when I was a child, although I loved him very much. Nor is it what it was when I was in my early twenties and I discovered for the first time that I could fall in love with God, that He would be on my mind as I feel asleep at night and as I woke up again in the morning. Because although I loved Him, I didn't understand the depth of his great love for me until I was neck deep in grief and had no one but Him to bring me comfort.  It is there, in those moments when I discovered the depth of His love. It was then that I discovered the richness of a relationship that has gone through the fire.