For life's serious moments, this is so true.
I have lived a blessed life. Sure I have been kicked in the gut a few times with finances, expected deaths of grandparents who had lived long and memorable lives, things like that. I even remember thinking that my life was unusually blessed, and it was...is. But in this journey through life, the path is not always easy.
My first real experience with this, and to be honest, my hardest to date came on October 8, 2000. I was at the fair with my mom, my children, and some of my nieces and nephews. We were having a great time. We were looking at all the great camper displays when mom's cell phone rang. All I heard was, "Oh...okay." She hung up, turned to me with a worried look and said, "That was Dad. He said we have to go home right now and then hung up." I remember how worried she looked. We gathered up the children, gave away our ride tickets to the closest family we could find with children and headed out. I wasn't really worried. I told mom it couldn't be that bad. He told us to go home, not to the hospital or anything. It never crossed my mind that something really bad could have happened.
We got home and were greeted at the door by my oldest brother. He took mom's arm. There was no easy way to say it, so he just said it. "Mom, Jeff is dead."
Shock. Disbelief. Denial. Then the collapse.
As mom collapsed at the news her son was dead, it seemed the whole world came crashing down with her. How could my brother be dead? What happened? But there was no time at that moment. It took all I had to help my oldest brother help my mother and calm/comfort her as best we could while he brokenly told us of the freak accident that had taken Jeff from us. There were young children to care for and explain to. A newly widowed sister-in-law and now fatherless nephews who needed us to be strong. In the days, weeks, even months ahead we all leaned on each other. When some were weak, others were strong. When the strong got weak, the weak became strong. We had to. We didn't have any other choice.
But the MOST important thing we all learned was that without our faith, we would not have survived enough to be strong. Not a single one of us could have made it through without God's help. We did not have the strength in us. God provided it. He provided each other for us to lean on, build up, and draw strength from. We turned to Him as a family. In our weakness, He was made strong, and in turn, He made us strong.
It has now been over 13 years since that terrible day. We have since had more moments... mom's stroke, dad's heart attack, and the dreaded cancer diagnosis, treatment, and finally remission for another sibling. But through it all, God has provided the strength we need. And he has richly blessed all our lives as well. My sister-in-law is a widow no more. She found a second chance with a wonderful man. My nephews have become fathers themselves and let me spoil my grandnieces whom I love dearly. At this moment, we are a happy, mostly whole, family. We know life is fragile, so we enjoy while we can. And when strength is all we have, we know He will provide that too.
I have lived a blessed life. Sure I have been kicked in the gut a few times with finances, expected deaths of grandparents who had lived long and memorable lives, things like that. I even remember thinking that my life was unusually blessed, and it was...is. But in this journey through life, the path is not always easy.
My first real experience with this, and to be honest, my hardest to date came on October 8, 2000. I was at the fair with my mom, my children, and some of my nieces and nephews. We were having a great time. We were looking at all the great camper displays when mom's cell phone rang. All I heard was, "Oh...okay." She hung up, turned to me with a worried look and said, "That was Dad. He said we have to go home right now and then hung up." I remember how worried she looked. We gathered up the children, gave away our ride tickets to the closest family we could find with children and headed out. I wasn't really worried. I told mom it couldn't be that bad. He told us to go home, not to the hospital or anything. It never crossed my mind that something really bad could have happened.
We got home and were greeted at the door by my oldest brother. He took mom's arm. There was no easy way to say it, so he just said it. "Mom, Jeff is dead."
Shock. Disbelief. Denial. Then the collapse.
As mom collapsed at the news her son was dead, it seemed the whole world came crashing down with her. How could my brother be dead? What happened? But there was no time at that moment. It took all I had to help my oldest brother help my mother and calm/comfort her as best we could while he brokenly told us of the freak accident that had taken Jeff from us. There were young children to care for and explain to. A newly widowed sister-in-law and now fatherless nephews who needed us to be strong. In the days, weeks, even months ahead we all leaned on each other. When some were weak, others were strong. When the strong got weak, the weak became strong. We had to. We didn't have any other choice.
But the MOST important thing we all learned was that without our faith, we would not have survived enough to be strong. Not a single one of us could have made it through without God's help. We did not have the strength in us. God provided it. He provided each other for us to lean on, build up, and draw strength from. We turned to Him as a family. In our weakness, He was made strong, and in turn, He made us strong.
It has now been over 13 years since that terrible day. We have since had more moments... mom's stroke, dad's heart attack, and the dreaded cancer diagnosis, treatment, and finally remission for another sibling. But through it all, God has provided the strength we need. And he has richly blessed all our lives as well. My sister-in-law is a widow no more. She found a second chance with a wonderful man. My nephews have become fathers themselves and let me spoil my grandnieces whom I love dearly. At this moment, we are a happy, mostly whole, family. We know life is fragile, so we enjoy while we can. And when strength is all we have, we know He will provide that too.