Thoughts on Grief

A friend of mine who lost her brother two years ago today shared this article with me. 

What a well written glimpse into what grief can feel like...

http://johnpavlovitz.com/2015/10/31/the-day-ill-finally-stop-grieving/

This right here...

"This ironic combination of searing pain and complete numbness was going to give me a layer of compassion for hurting people that I’d never had before." 

"These tragic times are somehow oddly comforting even as they kick you in the gut."

But this... This gripped me and made my heart buck and bristle...

"You are forced to face your inability to do anything but feel it all and fall apart. It’s incredibly difficult in those quiet moments, when you realize so long after the loss that you’re still not the same person you used to be; that this chronic soul injury just won’t heal up. This is tough medicine to take, but more difficult still, is coming to feel quite sure that you’ll never will be that person again. It’s humbling to know you’ve been internally altered: Death has interrupted your plans, served your relationships, and rewritten the script for you." 

Phrases like "inability to do anything" and "chronic soul injury" cause me to want to scream from the rooftop this truth from 1 Thessalonians 4...

“And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. (Another version says "we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”)

First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 MSG

Oh my gosh y'all. I can't tell you how these words make my heart leap. Also, yes, I will never be the same. (But thank God!) And yes, my heart is injured. But I also serve a God who "heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds..." (Psalm 147) Let that sink in...and change everything. 

(Just had to share another picture to show off my stud dad and my beautiful Mom. I ADORE this picture.)