Death

I've been pretty absent recently. Sorry about that!

The last week or so, there has been a lot of death around here. The greatest thing about it: Those I know who've passed, have gone to see the Lord. What a great peace.

But somehow, for me, it doesn't make it any easier. I always have the same questions:


How do some deal with death, especially those who are not believers? How do you help those who've lost a non-believer grieve. How do you help those who've lost  a believer grieve the physical loss and resume life without them?

I do have some answers for those, and generally it's safe to say its different for each person. Ultimately there will be no one answer and just something that you have to learn and respond as the Holy Spirit guides.

I read an article the other day on NPR. It was about an atheist whose husband had passed. This line was written:

"I was searching frantically for anything that would help me get through this," Fiore recalls. "But everything I found had to do with God: putting your faith in God, believing that God had some sort of plan. I found nothing to help me."

After that I was thinking to myself that she turned to God and He got her through this....but that was not the case. She is now writing grief books for atheists.  Ultimately I know there will be no comfort for those who do not turn to the Lord in times such as those.

Here is a link to that particular article if you want to read it: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/16/168563480/after-tragedy-nonbelievers-find-other-ways-to-cope

Nearly a year ago I was faced with a situation that made me realize that life is so easy to lose. You could die of anything at any second. I hear the phrase "tomorrow is never guaranteed". I always think to myself "5 minutes from now isn't guaranteed!"

I had a wake up call. I knew that's what it was. But for a week or so I had no idea what it was. Then one Sunday a guy named Mike came up to me at church. (This guy is awesome, he reminds me a lot of my dad!) Mike said to me "God has plans for you".

And that was all I needed to hear. God can so easily take me home. But He hasn't. So what is His plan for me? I don't know, but I know there is one. Every day of my life is part of that "plan" and I made a pledge to make sure I listen to the Lord and live out His plan, not my own.

Sorry for all the ramblings and jumping from topic to topic, I hope it wasn't too unbearable =D