The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow, and Life Will Go On

            My older brother, Bill, died suddenly of a blood clot to the lung.  It devastated Momma, not only having to bury her child but it grieved her that she wasn't there and she didn't get to kiss him and tell him good-by.  

           A couple of months after Bill's funeral, I went with Momma to see her cancer doctor for a routine check-up.  This particular doctor was one of those genuinely kind and caring physicians and when he asked Momma how she was doing, she began to cry.  Then she told him about Bill dying and how she missed her son.  

The doctor gently took her face in his hands and looked directly at her.  Then he said, "You love him.  You will always love him.  So you get up every morning, you think about him and you have yourself a good, hard cry.  Then you get up, you wash your face, and you go on with your day."

        It was tremendous advice and was undoubtedly shared from the doctor's own personal experience and broken heart.  In the years that followed, I saw Momma do that and it helped her continue on.

        When you bury someone that you love with all your heart and you're in the blackness of grief, you know that life will never be the same ever again.  You feel like you are in the darkest midnight possible and that you will never again see the light of day.  And even though you don't want to even think about it, the reality is that the sun does come up tomorrow and life does go on.  

       And, yes, we go on without that loved one.  Truthfully, most days we go on only because the Lord is holding us, carrying us through each moment.  We don't have the strength to go on ourselves and He doesn't expect us to.  The Bible says in Psalm 46:1 " God is our refuge and strength, ..."

      Jesus wants us to press in hard to Him, let Him hold us and heal us.  He knows our pain, He knows our grief, and He loves us with an everlasting love.  He wants us to cry out to Him in the midst of our sorrow and He is always near to comfort us.

      Grief is the other side of love.  It also reminds us of how precious that person was to us and keeps their memory tender.  Grief was never meant to destroy us, but it will if we let it.  Like any other hardship in life, it can make us better or bitter depending on how we choose to respond to it.  

The sun will come up tomorrow and life will go on.  

So we remember our loved one and we have a good cry.  Then we get up and hold God's hand as we go on into our day.

      Shared in love,

                             Cris 

A Prayer for The One Who Is Left

     My Grandmother said once that the one who lives the longest will bury the most, and carry the heaviest burden of grief.  I understand that more and more as the Lord removes people that I love from my life.  

     A short prayer written by an unknown author was shared with me after Momma's homegoing.  It is poignant and right to the heart of how I have felt so often while dealing with Momma's absence.  I find myself praying to the Lord to help me see the meaning of my faith and the reason I am still here on this earth.  

     God's ways are not our ways.  And there are things we will not understand this side of Heaven.  And until we are there with Him, we can only trust His heart.

     Shared in love,

                    Cris 

* * *

A Prayer For The One Who Is Left

     Lord, the trouble about life just now is that I seem to have all things which don't matter, and to have lost all the things which do matter.

     I have life;
     I have enough money to live on; 
     I have plenty to occupy me;
     but I feel so alone, and sometimes it seems that nothing can make up for that.

     Lord, compel me to see the meaning of my faith.  

     Make me to realize ...

that I have a hope as well as a memory, and

the unseen cloud of witnesses is around me:

that You meant it when You said that

You would always be with me;

and make me to realize that as long as You leave

me here there is something that I am meant

to do; and in doing it, help me to find the

comfort and the courage that I need to go on.

     In Jesus' name, 
                   Amen.

Our letter to Michael ....

    Our nephew, Michael, died February 8, 2019.  We didn't know his depression was so deep and that he had gone back to drinking.  Grief is grief - regardless of what causes it.  And we grieve Michael.

     In working through his own grief, my husband wrote this letter to Michael.  I share it here to honor our nephew's memory and our love for him ... and to work through the grief.

Dear Michael,

     You took your life from us much too soon – for these brief twenty-five years went by much too fast.

     We will miss your smile, the laughter, and even your silliness.  But know this: your presence will be gravely missed because we loved you with unconditional and never-ending love.

     Your life brought us much joy and pride, along with some disappointments – but that's life.

     Our world is made a lesser place without you in it.  We will not see you meet the love of your life or have a family to call your own.  And for us that is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all.

     Know this, Son: when we visit the fond memories of you ... and that will be often ... as we shed a tear we will call out your name "MICHAEL WAYNE WATSON" to let you know you will never ever be forgotten.  You have earned a special place in our hearts for all eternity.

     Now you must sleep the eternal sleep and until we meet again (and we will) know that you were and always will be deeply loved and you will be forever missed.

                      With our unconditional love,

                      Uncle Wayne and Auntie