This is the day the Lord has made

It would have been another ordinary Sunday. We’d have gone to church in the morning. My son’s 8^th birthday party was scheduled for noon. We’d have celebrated with his friends, got exhausted, and headed to yet another event held by his class for the end-of-school-year celebration.

It was sunny, a little cooler than last week.  It was to be a day filled with laughter, joy, games and chats.

But something was different. It’d been a week since the massive quake shook western China, showing nature’s formidable wrath against humanity. Tens of thousands lives have been lost, among whom many of the most vulnerable – young school children who’d never celebrate another birthday on earth. I've been glued to the new sites, devouring the latest update yet unable to read through the details because they were too much to bear.

I was scheduled to teach in my 5-year-old’s Sunday school. Watching the boisterous boys and beautifully dressed girls I couldn’t help thinking about the other side the globe, where so many had perished. We sat down in a circle. I asked them if they’d say a prayer with me.  

What’s it for? They asked, their eyes seeking in my face.

Do you know this country called China? Actually I’m from there.

Oh, the earthquake! Someone blurted out.

Yes the earthquake. Do you know what that is?

Yes I felt it once! The floor was shaking! Said one excited voice.

“But my house didn’t fall apart.” said another.

Yes, you’re very lucky. But the earthquake in China was much bigger. And many houses did fall apart and a lot of children died. They went to heaven.

“It makes me want to cry when I think about the earthquake”, said Abigail, her big blue eyes welling up.

It makes me want to cry too, sweetheart.

So we prayed for the ones in heaven, that there’s no suffering. We prayed for the ones on earth, that the Lord would bring food, water, medications, new houses and schools. We prayed for those who lost their families and loved ones that God would bring love and comfort. I was choking up during the prayer, yet there was something surreal about that moment. As we mourn and grieve over our losses, there is peace and serenity when you believe there is something eternal beyond flesh.

It was a music time. My heart had been so heavy the whole week and didn’t prepare any material. I looked around the classroom. A poster caught my attention. That was the song we sang to finish our prayer:

“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalms 118:24

By the way, I said before they were dismissed, if you are caught in another earthquake, don’t be scared. Just remember Mommy and Daddy love you and God loves you too. They’ll never leave you.