Grief and Hope

     Something is missing.  Nothing is as it should be.  Everything is just not quite right.  It is a wonder to me that the world continues to function.  That people go about their business as I life hasn’t been rocked to the very core.  It is wonder to me that I continue to function.  Because sometimes, the missing her almost keeps me from keeping on.  Sometimes, the grief is almost too much.

     Grief lingers.  It haunts.  Sometimes it hides, just in the shadows, and for a time I feel relieved.   Then it jumps out and swallows me whole.  Its grip tightens around me.  I have to scratch, and claw, to climb my way out.  But I do.  Because grief is not the end of the story.  Grief is a process.  Yes, it is nasty and ugly much of the time.  Yet, it is also sprinkled with beauty and joy and hope.  Beauty in the memories that make me smile.  Joy in knowing that she is at peace and at home.  Hope in knowing that I will see her again. 

     God is well acquainted with grief.  He full well knows the pain of being separated from the one you love.  He understands mourning.  And He walks through it with us.  He holds us and comforts us.  “Praise the Lord, praise God our Savior!  For each day He carries us in His arms.  Our God is a God who saves!”  Psalm 68:19-20a (NLT)  He promises that He will one day wipe away all our tears.  “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” Revelation 21:4 (NIV)

     And that is more than enough reason to keep on.  

Five Minute Friday - Hands

     Their hands lay gently on top of each other.  Beauty and grace, hard work and time, etched on each.  It's a picture of their hands but it reveals so much more.  It reveals not only how close they are, but of how alike they are.  They are mother and daughter but also friends.  Both have nurtured, both have provided, both have been the caretaker.  Both have listened, both have comforted, both have soothed.  Each has held the other's hand in joy and sorrow, celebration and grief.  Each has held the other's hand to support, to guide, to hold the other up.  Each has given all of their heart and all of their strength to the other.  Mother gave the daughter life.  The daughter held her mother's hand in death.  And now the joy and comfort come in knowing, someday, they will be together again and this time there will be no death, no tears, no pain. Only joy.