Good morning,
The last few weeks have been quite a time for quite a few people that I love and hold dear to me. My brother’s wife’s family lost both of their parents and a nephew Ryan, all in less than one week. Just devastating and hard to imagine any family going through that. My sweet friend of many years landed in the hospital, sicker than she has ever been with a rare form of Salmonella, and then another close friend lost her dad yesterday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. One thing is true. We are all fragile and temporary on this earth!
Jesus knew this and He came to help us! He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light.”
He said, “Keep God first.” He said, “Love one another.”
If God is first, we get the ability to love one another… All our shortcomings, all our faults, become not so important when we think that someone is hurting or sick or lost!
No matter who you are or where you are, we all have an internal desire to want the best for people we love. So, we say, “My prayers are with you” or “I will pray for you.” Why? Because we all know that only God, with His enormous ability to love us, because He is for us, can help in some very dire situations. Doctors know that medicine alone is not always enough. They see first-hand that medicine combined with prayer is effective.
Death is so final, we think. It is not. We are all spirits and our spirit will live on. Those who have Christ as their way, truth, and light will join us someday in heaven. That is a promise! We will miss our loved ones, but to have hope at the time of our loss is only because of Christ. He lets us be mad, sad, and a minute later laughing about something we remember about our lost loved one. He helps us encourage each other with stories of our individual relationship with the person who is sick or has passed away.
At Ryan’s funeral everyone who talked about him said how much he accepted anyone, loved freely, and laughed with a sound that was like no one else’s laugh. All of them said they will never forget his unique laugh.
My friend Regina is known for her wonderful, encouraging words and notes that she sends to you when you are hurting or sick. She sent me a card one time that I still have in my office. I am so thankful she is out of the hospital and on the road to recovery but I want to return her kind of encouragement with a note that says “I love you and you matter so much to me. This sickness is out of here and you are an amazing fighter, girl!!”
My friend Robin, who lost her dad yesterday, is the kind of daughter her dad, I know, was so thankful for!! She is an organizer who gets things done, thinks of your needs, and what she can do to help like no other. She is so loving and considerate and it flows to all who know her.
And today is Dan and Betsy’s joint funeral as they were married 60 years and died six days apart. This couple will be celebrated by everyone who knew and loved them and their daughters and families will be held up in all the prayers today from family and friends who can understand that this is a sweet blessing really, and a love story that ends but lives on in their hearts.
Thank goodness, we have a God who is love! Christ that came to show us the way, the truth, and the light and Holy Spirit who lives in us and helps us in good days and in bad days with grace, peace that surpasses all understanding, and hope!
Love you, Teri
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