‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?’ But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.
The first thing you manage after a loss can feel almost too small to mention. It might be opening the curtains, answering one message out of twenty, or walking to the end of the road and back. Set beside the life you had before, it hardly seems worth calling a step.