Death, Loss, and the Joy Promised in the Morning

   Good morning monsters, As I sit here watching the sun play across my windows I am reminded of one  simple joy we all take for granted, waking up. It is such a blessing to open your eyes and witness the birth of a new day. When we lay down at night we don't dream of not waking up, as we go about our day we don't focus on the millions of ways we could die, for many of us these thoughts never cross our mind. For those of us dealing with chronic illnesses, heart problems, debilitating illness, cancer, death or the thought of death; is our constant companion, he sits down with us, eats at our table, walks with us, looks over our shoulder and perches at the end of our bed. 


    Monster, I am not telling you this to cause you to fear, only to remind you of the greatest possession you have, Life. As we travel through life we lose people along the way, during the course of your journey you will lose someone you love, you will lose a whole host of loved ones. I am sorry monster, I am sorry for the pain and the hurt that you have felt, I am sorry for the pain you are feeling now, I am sorry for the future pain you will deal with later.   Death will come for all of us, but in the midst of this seeming darkness I want you to remember monster, that death though painful is not evil, it is not something to be feared, death has no power over us. 


  By all means, grieve, weep, and honor the memory of your loved one, but in your grief take comfort that it is not the end.  You will be sad, you will grieve there is no shame in this. After all when faced with coming to terms of his own death Jesus wept (John 11:35).
But monster in all your weeping there comes a time to remember that there is joy, there is an end to the pain. As Christians we are given hope. The word refers to death as sleeping, nothing more. "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

   Monster, in your pain know that God is with you. He will comfort you, (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) He will Bless you, (Matthew 5:4) He will heal your broken heart. (Psalm 119:105) and he will be your strength. (Psalm 73:26). Know that this pain and hurt will diminish and you will be left with the love and wonderful memories of having shared even a moment with the one you have lost. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5)


 

  In the church I grew up in we called it a Homegoing Celebration. We took joy and comfort in 2 Corinthians 5:8  which tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I have loved and lost those loves, and in the moment of my grief I was surrounded by people who loved me enough to remind me of these things that I have shared with you. I hope that they bring you peace monster, and shed a little light on your dark time. 

I wish you peace monster.

Re Birth, New Beginnings, and Just Letting Go

Wow monsters, I can't believe it has been a year! Well I am dusting off my blog and rebooting it. I have missed you guys so much hopefully you have been missing me too. If not oh well suck it up I am back monsters.

   It has been a hectic, wonderfully blessed, busy year. I got married, had a baby, moved to St. Louis, set up a new household, discovered a new city, learned to navigate the city streets, and even had time to plan a few events, do a little traveling, entertain a few visitors and breathe. So now can you see why it has taken a year to get back to you? I can. So today's topic is all about new beginnings.

In life we must constantly evolve, we change, we fit into new roles, we create new lives, we grow. Well some of us do anyway.  Some of us only change when life forces us to, we go kicking and screaming, we look back and gaze at who we were, what we used to do, who we used to be, we stand there so long we become pillars of salt, We become Lot's wife, rooted forever, staring back at a life that we should have joyfully moved on from.  You know what I am talking about monster,                                                                                                                                                                                                                      you are the one forever posting old highschool pics on throwback thursday, you look in the mirror and remember when you were younger, thinner, taller, shorter, whatever. You start every convo with remember when, you, monster, are stuck.

You might be looking at your life and wondering what if.... what if i took that job,,,, what if I hadn't moved...what if i had tried to work it out with_____________ what if what if what if. Maybe that is not you, maybe you were perfectly happy with your life until life happened. Maybe you lost your job, your home, your loved one. Maybe you just had a birthday, a baby, a wedding, a funeral, and your wondering what now. Maybe you are having a crisis seriously looking at your life and wondering what the heck happened and how did I get here. Maybe you are looking at your life and worrying that everyone else seems light years ahead of you, are happier then you, richer then you, more successful etc.

If any of these are the case you are in danger monster. In danger of turning into that pillar of salt, hardened, unmoveable, and ultimately left behind.

Don't be left behind, instead leave your past behind you. There is no magic potion or time machine, we can't go backwards and why should we. Everything you need you have, right here and right now. You have the power to change your life, change your outlook, change your mind and you have the power to move forward.  Most importantly you have the power to look forward to your life with joy and not fear. Ugh there is that word again fear, FEAR is what is keeping you in the place your are. It makes you look back instead of forward, it tells you that you are too old, too young, too inexperienced, too experienced, too poor, too rich, too  too too too too too too it can go on forever. You need to look fear in the face and tell it the TRUTH. The truth is you are  Too BLESSED, TOO ANOINTED, TOO COVERED IN GRACE to stay imprisoned by the past.

Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  No where in the Bible does it advice us to worry about our past, no where does it tell us that we are stuck in the roles others have written for us or the roles we have written for ourselves. Even Jesus tells us to look forward (Luke 9:62) He says no man who puts his hand to the plow and then looks behind is fit for the Kingdom of God. Now I know your not farmers, monster,( well some of you might be, who am I to say your not,) but all this is saying is look forward, run your race, stay on your path. Life happens to us all. Not to break us but to strengthen us, to teach us wisdom to give us new outlooks, to better us not bitter us. It is ok to let your past go. To redefine yourself, to change your mind, to try new things, to open new doors, to boldly go where no man has gone before,,,,,

You get the point. Today monster look at who you used to be, give her a hug, thank her for all her hard work and put her to bed. It is time to get up and live today and forge a new future.