These past 2 months have been dogged by death. We have sorrowed and mourned the passing of dear loved ones...
A nephew.
A brother.
A cousin.
A friend.
The sorrowing has been a dark trial and the walk has been hard. Each death buried us a little deeper in pain.
To be sure, grief has worn tracks on our heart this summer.
Their smiles shine from the pictures and leave us wanting more time with each one. The love and friendship will not be replaced this side of heaven. And that is something we mourn each day.
There is no easy way to walk this road. We will grieve and miss them the rest of our days.
We have found ourselves quieting in this season. The loss feels too great. Words can't touch the heartache.
And so, we rest on the only truth we know. That God walks with us. He catches our tears and holds us in our sorrow. We do not grieve as those with no hope. And that will be the light for our path when the way is dark.
Our great grief bears witness to a great love. God knows our heart.
Remembering and Honoring these cherished men tonight.
So many plans that were abruptly changed or cancelled... the weddings, the birthdays... the trips, the visits... and funerals that hung in limbo for much too long.
The world stood still while our heartaches mounted.
Yesterday we were served yet again another dose of bad news. Hard news. News that we perhaps knew was coming, but nevertheless caught us off guard.
And it made my heart falter a bit when I heard the news.
Alex Trebek felt like a friend. We invited him into our home every evening after supper and he never failed to entertain...and educate us!
His charm and dry wit and kindness on the long-time set of Jeopardy has been a staple in our lives for decades, passed down from our parents... I can remember a sweet Mother-in-law who loved his show and could pose questions to his answers faster than we could look them up on google!
We have followed his pancreatic cancer journey with hope as he passed the dreaded 3-6 month prognosis and then a year, and 18 months... we dared to believe he would be one of the few who beat this cancer and could pave the way for others to find a treatment that worked.
Our hearts go out to his family and friends who loved him well.
He will be mssed by so many.
Mike Richards, the executive producer of Jeopardy, shared his thoughts in a touching tribute last night before Alex Trebek's final Jeopardy episode series began.
"He loved this show and everything it stood for. In fact, he filmed his final episodes less than two weeks ago. He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness and for his love of his family."
And now, he will also be the face of hope to all those fighting this deadly disease.
He chose to meet his cancer head-on and through his transparent, honest updates, he has encouraged all of us to stand up and do something about this cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer research is one of the least funded cancers and the 5-year survival rate is dismally still in the single digits. That needs to change, and Alex was determined to use his platform to make a difference.
With his death, the torch has been passed to us.
We can and must make a difference for all those in the fight of their lives...
It occurs to me that my last 3 posts have somehow dealt more with death and remembrance than usual... In the last week or so, we have mourned with a sweet family on the sudden loss of their mom, we have "run the race" with Travis as he honored the memory of 2 firefighters who gave their lives fighting a church blaze, and on Memorial Day, we thanked the many military families who gave their all protecting this great country.
Death. It comes in many ways. Some know their fate and meet it head on. To some, it comes unexpectedly and suddenly. To all, it comes eventually. And we mourn. Grieve for the one we miss so desparately. For lost moments. For what could have been. Always, we mourn.
And yet, my heart still beats with the message that Death for the Believer is one of Glorious Homecoming, a moment immeasurably Beautiful and Holy. Not to be feared, nor grieved. A blessing to the soul gaining Paradise, a Comfort and Peace to the loved ones left behind.
This would be the flip side of our mourning. It is the conversation I want to have with my family. An intentional discussion to let them know that just as I have embraced Life, so will I embrace Death. I want them to remember the words I have spoken, that I am in a place of incomparable Magnificence, a place I have been journeying to all my life...
And today, I found a kindred spirit in George Bernard Shaw. He speaks to this message so much more eloquently than I:
"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me: it is sort of a splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
May your torch burn brightly as you journey this life!
Yesterday, my sister-in-law, Lisa, said goodbye for the last time to her precious mom, Pat. She passed away after a long, courageous battle with liver disease. Surrounded by family and friends, she slipped from this place into the next with a sweet smile on her face.
The grief is still raw, but even in the sorrow of those left behind, I see that love transcends even this boundary. A physical presence isn't necessary for a deep love to be felt or returned. Nor is death to be feared. Those we love pave the way, and I believe with all my heart, they will be waiting as we enter the life beyond this. A life we can't begin to comprehend.
A grief counselor shared this story from Larry Libby's Someday Heaven, to try and explain her feelings of what heaven will be like:
Try to imagine something with me. Imagine you are a little bird who lives in a tiny cage made of rusty metal. And inside your cage you have a food dish, and a little mirror, and a tiny perch to swing on.
Then one day, some kind person takes your cage to a big, beautiful forest. The forest is splashed with sunlight. Proud, towering trees cover the hills and valleys as far as you can see. There are gushing waterfalls, and bushes drooping with purple berries, and fruit trees, and carpets of wild flowers, and a wide blue sky to fly in. And besides all these things, there are millions of other little birds, hopping from one green limb to another and eating their fill, and raising their little families, and singing their hearts out all through the day. Now, little bird, can you imagine wanting to stay in your cage? Can you imagine saying, "Oh please don't let me go. I will miss my cage, I will miss my little food dish with seeds in it. I will miss my plastic mirror and my tiny little perch. I might get bored in that big forest." I don't think so...
I love that picture of release. Life on this earth may be all we know. But faith prompts me to insist that there is so much more. And, no, I don't think we will be bored in the life to come! I can't begin to imagine what awaits those who believe, but I do know the sovereign God whose Son, Jesus Christ promised, "In my Father's House are many rooms, if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:2.
Pat's room has been prepared, the welcome mat laid out on streets of gold, and she is home at last. Grief still consumes, but peace triumphs.
Keeping Lisa, Dean, the grandchildren, and all of Pat's extended family in our hearts and prayers. May peace and comfort truly find a home in the many, many beautiful memories you hold close:
Surprising Pat for her 68th Birthday with a Big Party just a few short months ago!
Pat's Favorite Girls: Kalon, Sarah and Lisa
Mom and Dad with Pat
Pat, your loss cuts keenly, the sorrow is ours alone for we know you are finally finished with the pain and suffering, liberated in great joy. For that we are so grateful, but you will be missed always! Until we meet again...
.jpg)
