Working Through Hurt
As I hold the sweet little baby in my arms I am amazed at her tiny, intricate form. I love examining her little hands and toes and feeling the softness of her fine baby hair. At 19, it is a new experience for me as I haven’t been around babies much in my life. I am most certainly in love with this dear sweet niece.
As a toddler, she and I are blessed to spend time together. We have our adventures when I take her out for the day to give her mom a break. The thrill of that little hand in mine brings immeasurable joy. Her smiles and laughter are a bright spot for my day.
As she grows up, I watch her develop into a fine young woman. Like me, she is a teacher and a person who loves music. She faithfully serves God and has an extremely caring heart. The lives she touches magnify her impact as her joy in the Lord spills out into all she does.
I watch her as she becomes a wife and mother. I rejoice in her willingness to care for others, even when her own life is turned upside down with a cancer diagnosis.
As with anything else, she faces this challenge with fortitude and a strong faith in God to support her in whatever happens. She wins the battle and rejoices in healing.
But life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. At the same time I am diagnosed with cancer, she learns that her cancer has returned and metastasized. Even though she receives this tough news, she reaches out to me to encourage me through my cancer journey.
That is who she is. She cares for others and uses her own tough experiences to provide encouragement and support for those around her. She has a gift for reaching out to others and ministering to them with compassion.
While I am able to rejoice that I am cancer free, she cannot do so. She fights with all she has but the Lord takes her home to be with Him.
The hole that is left is immense and the hurt is great. Her sons and husband mourn the loss of a fabulous wife and mother.
Her death brings to the forefront the knowledge that none of us knows how long God will give us on this earth.
For me, it heightens the awareness of how much there is to do in the short time God gives us. There are so many people who need to know that God cares about them. There is an immense need to share the Gospel message with those in our sphere of influence. Our world is filled with despair and hopelessness. Jesus Christ is the only answer to that.
Many are hurt, confused, downtrodden, and the list goes on. Are we willing to draw from our faith and our own experiences with God in our lives and use them to bring others encouragement, help, and hope?
My heart is very heavy as I focus on loss. How do I or any of us get through a time such as this? Only with God’s help can we cope. He brings the ultimate hope to us.
When her death is announced her husband pens these words: “We often hope for what we want to happen in this world. In Elizabeth’s case, we hoped to receive a miracle of healing, but ultimately, our Christian hope is fulfilled when we depart this life with faith in Jesus and are united with Christ in heaven and with our loved ones and all of God’s people who have died before us. For Elizabeth, this Christian hope is now fulfilled.”
Dear friend, whatever you are facing today, God knows and understands. He feels your hurt, knows your pain, celebrates with your joys, and carries you into the future. I pray that you will rejoice in the life that God gives you and rest in the comfort of His everlasting arms.
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