All About the Cuteness
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saying Good Bye...
We have been to several visitations and funerals this year.It's hard to get myself to go sometimes especially when I didn't know the person who passed away. I think that my presence does not matter and that I would rather do something productive at home. Then I go and I kick myself for being so self fish in my thoughts. It's not the easiest or the most convenient thing to do but I think we lose a huge blessing by not going. I remember when my dad passed away and that was the first funeral for me and my siblings. We didn't know what we were suppose to do and it was so hard to just sit there thinking this would be the last time we would see my dads body here on earth.
I remember an elderly lady from my church who ran into the building, she couldn't stay long because her husband was in the car waiting for her. I didn't really know her very well at the time but she came in and found me and gave me a hug and she was a little emotional herself, she hugged me and said she couldn't stay but she was thinking of me and my family and walked back to her car and they drove off. I knew where she lived and it was a good 40 minute drive from her house to the funeral home. She didn't have to come but she did it anyway and this was 12 years ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I remember how it made me feel and for that moment I wasn't sad in the midst of all the sorrow. She never met my dad or any of my family members prior to this day. She gave her time and stopped by for 10 seconds but those 10 seconds have left an impression on my heart and mind all these years.
We have visitations tomorrow and the funeral is Tuesday. I don't remember every meeting the lady that has passed away but she is a Grandmother to a lady in our church. Everyone's loss is different. I believe this lady has received Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior and is in Heaven with the Lord and so they will meet again one day. Knowing this makes saying good bye on this earth a little easier but I'm sure she will be missed.
So maybe while we see the family tomorrow, for a moment in the midst of their sorrow, by being there we can be an encouragement even if it is for just a second.
It's been difficult for me to write about loss this year. I haven't been able to put it into words and I'm still having difficulty. We said good bye to a friend of ours 17 year old son who was killed in a car accident. We said good bye to our brother in laws mom who passed away within 3 weeks of finding out she had leukemia. These two lives specifically were taken away very quickly with no good bye's. We are given just a short time here on earth with no promises of tomorrow. It makes me want to hug a little tighter, laugh a little louder and smile a little bigger.
After death we can live in eternity with the Lord but if we reject him, our destination is hell. This may sound cold to some and so I must say it now...we are all given a choice in whom we will serve. I will leave you with something my brother in law read to his mom:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
posted by Melanie at 2:18 AM
Cuteness
Psalms 37:4
"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."