By William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
Psalm 115:3-4
In The Garden
"I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses,
and the voice I hear
falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me
and He talks with me.
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there
none other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.”
Lyrics by C. Austin Miles
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.
John 18:37 NKJV
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of man; it searches his inmost being.
Proverbs 20:27
In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
Hebrews 1:1-2
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still, my soul will sing Your praise unending
Then thousand years and then forevermore
Excerpt: Ten Thousand Reasons by Matt Redman
Psalm 30:12 NASB95
Psalm 86:12 NASB95
Psalm 145:21 NSAB95
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
Excerpt: 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. they will be his people and god himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:3-5
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourn
What does Grief feel like?
Grief feels like you are moving through a bad dream you can’t wake up from.
Grief is constantly asking “Why?” and knowing even if you had the answers they would never be good enough.
Grief is feeling lost in the places you have been before and being homesick for the past.
Grief feels like a deep ache that you can’t seem to pinpoint where it hurts…but the pain is there.
Grief is feeling a part of you went away with them on the day they died.
Grief is people saying lots of unhelpful things because they want you to feel better. Little do they know that when they say “They would want you to happy/strong” makes us feel that we are disappointing the ones we lost for feeling like we do.
Grief is just going through the motions of your day in a steady haze.
Grief is the constant tug of war of holding on tightly to what was and letting go of what might have been.
Grief is walking through a thick brain fog with your loss always on your mind but your daily tasks far from it.
Grief is Googling if how you are feeling is normal and desperately looking for a timelines for when you might be better. Being rushed by others to move on makes this even harder to heal on your own time.
Grief is having the overwhelming feeling of guilt for moving on without them or for things that were said or went unsaid.
Grief is comparing yourself to how others are grieving and wondering if you are doing it right.
Grief is losing that feeling of “being home”.
Grief is the feeling of being alone when you are with a group of people.
Grief shakes you to your core, spins you around and drops you off in the middle of wreckage exposing your vulnerability.
Grief is judging yourself for not being further than you are in your healing. Talk to yourself like you are consoling your best friend if they were going through the same thing.
Grief can make you feel anger and question your faith.
Grief can feel different from day to day even hour by hour. There are emotional ups and downs, drop offs, exhausting climbs and switch backs.
Grief is the tossing and turning of sleepless nights and just wanting some respite from your own thoughts.
Grief cant be outrun. It catches up with you. Feeling it (even the sharpest edges) is the only way through.
Grief can sometimes feel like looking at the world through a dark filter with the colors you used to love muted in comparison.
Grief is whispering “I miss you” and looking everywhere for a sign from them.
Grief is worrying that you will never feel normal and comfortable in your own life again.
Grief feels like just wanting a hug or a simple “I’m here for you” instead of people trying to rationalize your loss or try to fix how you are feeling.
Grief is the rude awakening that when your whole world world has stopped, the rest of the world keeps moving unscathed.
Grief feels like choosing to be alone because small talk is exhausting and being with people who can’t relate feels even more isolating.
Grief feels like suffocating on the reality that there will be no new memories so you hold on so tightly to the past.
Grief feels like backing out of plans because you aren’t sure how you will feel on that particular day.
Grief feels like fear. We have seen that life is fragile and that can bring out anxiety and panic attacks.
Grief is waking up in the morning and losing them all over again.
Grief is going about your everyday tasks and being hit with a wave of sadness and disbelief at the realization that they are gone.
Grief feels like being deep in dispair and for some time, it may feel like you don’t have a place in this world.
Grief feels like being back to the first day you lost them after hearing a particular song or driving past a place you enjoyed together.
Grief is feeling a little jealous of seeing others with their loved ones and envious of seeing people in their mundane lives.
Grief feels like dreading holidays and special events instead of how you used to look forward to them.
Grief is trying to pretend you are ok on the outside while feeling torn apart on the inside.
Grief is wanting others to mention their loved one and wishing people knew that it helps to hear their name and stories about them. They are never far from our minds anyways.
Grief is learning that these feelings are ever changing and it will be with us in some degree for the rest of our lives.
Grief is a measure of how much love you gave them while they were here so the pain is of losing them fills that empty space. In time, we learn how to live with that heaviness.
The heartache begins to soften.
Tears and smiles can coexist.
Grief is learning how to keep them close to us in other ways. The best memories can never die. And because of that, we will carry it with us until we see them again
Written by Kristie Reitz
The After Glow
Psalm 16:18-11 NIV
Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Luke 10:36-37 NIV
Thought for the Day: Everyone I meet is my neighbor.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16 ESV
1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
September 7 is the 2nd anniversary of laying my daughter Crystal to rest near her grandmother’s grave in Columbus Georgia. To honor her, we visited the river bank where her friends held a life’s celebration honoring her life. We said a prayer and threw a bouquet of flowers on the river watching the tide carrying them to her “crossing the bar” to the other side.
Alfred Lord Tennyson - 1809-1892
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have cross’d the bar.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14 NIV
When my daughter died, I feel my heart has been broken into a thousand pieces. God's promise is that Jesus can take our broken pieces and heal our brokenness and give us purpose.
Thought for today: God can heal my brokenness and give me purpose.
That sees into the bottom of my grief?
William Shakespeare
Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
Ecclesiastes 11:7 NIV
Helen Keller
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13 NIV
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
James 5:7-11 NIV
