I don't usually do this, but I thought this man had interesting thoughts as he drove away from a funeral of a newly widowed family.

http://www.lonsberry.com/writings.cfm?story=3030&go=4
December 20th post called A Call to Service

Please pray for the family of Ken Parfitt.
Thank you!

A Decembered Grief

I have been rereading through A Decembered Grief: Living With Loss While Others Are Celebrating by Harold Ivan Smith.

I thought I would share its Table of Contents to be an encouragement to any fellow grievers who stop in here:

• Alter-Rather than Abandon-Traditions
• Anticipate the Holidays
• Appreciate the Grief Styles and Decisions of Others
• Ask Your Church for Help
• Be Alert to the Culture's Obsession with Excitement
• Befriend Your Grief
• Befuddle Someone
• Carolize Your Season
• Celebrate Sensitively
• Consider the Needs of Everyone
• Create New Traditions
• Create Ornaments or Decorations That Symbolize Your Loved One and Eternal Life
• Cry If You Want To
• Define Your Boundaries
• Do What You Need To Do
• Donate to Your Church or a Charity in Honor of Your Loved One
• Don't Fast-Forward to January 5
• Forgive Those You Believe Are Responsible for the Death
• Give Your Grief Its Voice
• Give Yourself Persmission to Say, "No," or "I'll Pass"
• Guard Your Heart
• Invite God's Help
• Journal Your Grief
• Made Gratitude
• Minimize the Seasonal Stressors
• Miss the Invitations to Parties and Other Social Events
• Nap
• Network With Other Grievers
• Nurture Yourself
• Observe a Quiet Holy Day
• Organize Your Living Environment
• Prepare
• Read
• Remain Open to Seasonal Surprises
• Remember Realistically
• Resist the Temptation to Make It Up to Others for What They've Been Through
• Rethink Your Holiday Shopping Habits
• Say Your Loved One's Name
• Try Events
• Unplug the Christmas Mania
• Use Some of Your Seasonal Decorations
• Visit the Cemetery or Scattering Ground
• Volunteer at a Social Service Agency
• Vote Your Choices
• Watch Children
• Watch Out for Numbing Influences
• Weigh Any Criticism of Your Grief Style and Holiday Decisions
• Worship
• Write A Year-End Letter to Your Deceased Loved One
• "Yes" Invitations That Feel Right
• "Zestize" Your Season

Ephesians 3:14-21

Words of Life to me today:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Eternal Career

I read this blessed quote today:

"Mothering is an eternal career"

Cheering Me On

My precious friend Cindy is now rejoicing in Heaven. Life's pain, sickness, and battles are over and she has sweet rest with Jesus. God brought this widow into my life to teach me and encourage me. It was a priviledge to be her friend these past 2 1/2 years. From Heaven she now cheers me on in a different way then she did here on earth.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Ephesians 5:20

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" Ephesians 5:20

Did you catch that? Read it again slower. "...always for all things..."

Giving thanks is easy when a child is born, how about when it takes an early flight to heaven?

Anniversaries are wonderful times to give thanks, how about when you are alone on that day?

How do you express thanks for an accident that killed one man and emotionally and spiritually cripples another?

What about financial troubles?

Death of a young child? a young adult? a relative dying painfully of cancer? A pet dies tragically and sends the children into an emotional tailspin? How hard it is to give thanks in these situations...

I am trying.....the Lord and I have talked about this....and I am trying.

Letting Him lift my head and count my many blessings is a great way to start. And the rest, the hard things to thank Him for.....that is when I plead for grace. Without His power I can't give thanks always for all things. And it all comes back to the verse in John 15:5 "...for without me ye can do nothing."