Saturday's Sayings - A Mother's Love...

Saturday's Sayings

A Mother's Love...

~A Mom thinks about her kids even when

they're not with her.

~A Mom loves her kids in a way they will never

understand (until they have their own).

~A Mom will be there for her kids when no one

else will.

~A Mom loves her kids even when they neglect

and hurt her.

~A Mom will catch a grenade, take a bullet,

stand in front of a train & ask God to take her

instead of her child.

~A Mom loves her kids to the moon & back & MORE!

~via I Relate Feelings

~~~~~

A Mother's LOVE has NO Expiration DATE.

~via Grieving Mother, Cindy Goolsby Martin, 

 In Loving Memory of April Michelle Pera

~~~~~

- Grief Credo -

I believe grief is a process that involves a lot of time, energy and determination.

I won't "get over it" in a hurry, so don't rush me!

I believe grief is intensely personal.

This is my grief. Don't tell me how I should be doing it.

Don't tell me what's right or what's wrong.

I'm doing it my way, in my time.

I believe grief is affecting me in many ways.

I am being affected spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and mentally.

If I'm not acting like my old self,

it's because I'm not my old self and

some days even I don't understand myself.

I believe I will be affected in some way by this loss for the rest of my life.

As I get older, I will have new insights into what this death means to me.

My loved one will continue to be part of my life

and influence me until the day I die.

I believe I am being changed by this process. I see life differently.

Some things that were once important to me aren't any more.

Some things I used to pay little or no attention to are now important.

I think a new me is emerging, so don't be surprised - and don't stand in the way.

~via Grieving Mother, Jill Compton

~~~~~

~via La Calvin

~~~~~

~via Grief the Unspoken

~~~~~

~Via Grieving Mother, Jill Compton

~~~~~

~via Grieving Mother, Jill Compton

~~~~~

Letter from Heaven

When tomorrow starts without me,

and I'm not here to see,

if the sun should rise and find your

eyes, filled with tears for me.

I wish so much you wouldn't cry,

the way you did today,

while thinking of the many things

we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me

as much as I love you,

and each time you think of me,

I know you'll miss me too.

When tomorrow starts without me,

don't think we're far apart,

for every time you think of me,

I'm right there in your heart.

~via "I Miss Those Close To Me Who Are Now In Heaven"

~~~~~

~via Grieving Mothers

~~~~~

"The voice of weeping shall be no more heard."
Isaiah 65:19

• The glorified weep no more, for all outward causes of grief are gone. 

• There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven.

• Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there. 

• No pain distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. 

• They weep no more, for they are perfectly sanctified. 

• No "...heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the living God; 

• They are without fault before his throne, and 

• (They) are fully conformed to his image. 

• Well may they cease to mourn who have ceased to sin. 

• They weep no more, because all fear of change is past. 

• They know that they are eternally secure. 

• Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. 

• They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed; 

• They bask in a sun which shall never set; 

• They drink of a river which shall never dry; 

• They pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither. 

• Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity shall not be exhausted, and 

• While eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. 

• They are forever with the Lord.

• They weep no more, because every desire is fulfilled. 

• They cannot wish for anything which they have not in possession. 

• Eye and ear, heart and hand, judgment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties, are completely satisfied; and 

• Imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, that the saints above are supremely blessed. 

• The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fulness of delight, is in them. 

• They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory, and sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss. 

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

~Charles Spurgeon's Morning Devotional About the Pearls of Heaven, 8/23/2012

Thursday's Therapy - More on "Not Letting Go"

Thursday's Therapy

More on "Not Letting Go"

After last week's Thursday's Therapy where we addressed the subject of "To Let Go," or "Not To Let Go," we discovered the elucidated theory of Dr. Louis E. LaGrand that spells out his view of "Not Letting Go":

Speak to Your Loved One

Dr. LaGrand thinks it's good to have a conversation with a deceased loved one, that it's an effective therapeutic outlet for your inner turmoil, and that when you feel like you are being heard, you receive comfort. He points out that in many Christian denominations, they teach "the doctrine of the communion of saints" which he describes as "involving the belief that the deceased loved ones, who are in heaven, are able to hear you and intercede with God for those on earth." 

He goes on to say, 

If you talk to your loved one, some remarkable things can occur, such as:

• It will provide an outlet and release as you deal with many changes in the days ahead.
• It gives motivation toward adjusting to a new world.
• It is a way to demonstrate love in separation. The deceased is always a thought away in your heart and it may well be an important way for you to remind yourself that love never dies. Though separated, you will always have a relationship.
• It can be a wake-up ritual.
• It is an effective emotional release.
• It bolsters much needed confidence.
• It promotes inner peace to be able to tell a loved one when something happens.

Dr. LaGrand concludes:

Even though we live in a world designed to keep the spiritual and the soulful on the periphery, it does not mean that we cannot intelligently choose to speak to a deceased loved one.

from Healing Grief, Finding Peace: 101 Ways to Cope with the Death of Your Loved One by Dr. Louis E. LaGrand

Friday's Faith - Signs of Love from Heaven

Friday's Faith

Signs of Love from Heaven

Some people journeying with grief say that "moments of connectedness" comprise one of the most powerful aids to healing. They describe times during which they feel strongly that a loved one is present--a visitation, a dream, a sign or a symbol…

Others have described vivid dreams which they felt a sense of time spent with their loved ones. Some describe events such as lights suddenly turning on or off or coins found in various places in and out of the home. Such events cannot be fully understood or explained, yet they provide healing for those who are open to the phenomenon. Frequent sightings of special birds like cardinals, hummingbirds, and eagles are healing reminders of many…

~Thomas M. Ellis,

This Thing Called Grief: New Understandings of Loss

Sitting on my patio, meditating outside in the beautiful sunshine on this Sunday afternoon, on this bittersweet and poignant day of Mother's Day… I am rocking in a porch rocker looking into my beautiful crimson red mandevilla with all it's bursting blooms next to our bubbling patio fountain, when I delight to see the first sighting of a hummingbird, its glistening green back hovering right before me, visiting and dining on each mandevilla blossom before me. Suddenly, for reasons still unknown to me, I burst into tears… 

I began to speculate… Perhaps  simply the beauty of God's creation appearing so close to me, a shockingly intimate moment with my Creator Lord, able to so closely admire the amazing beauty He bothered to invest into one little bird out of all of His creation…for His and our delight. 

… Perhaps the relief that these precious birds would come back to us once again to revisit us off and on for another Spring and Summer overwhelmed me in that moment. 

… Perhaps both of these reasons, and the sudden thought hit me that my sweet baby may be sending me this  special moment to remind me on this Mother's Day that she's thinking about me, when I felt her speak "Mommy, I am here… I love you!" We talked back and forth a bit on this special day, having a sweet Mother-Daughter "visit"!

So the tears continued to pour. Then as I thought of all the special happenings over the weekend, I was inspired to write the following poem. 

Signs of Love from Heaven

A hummingbird!

(First one of the season!)

Great Crested Flycatcher

stopped by earlier today with its

magnificent yellow belly!

(First one of its type I've ever seen!)

A new song revealed,

expressing our

"Heavenly" child's love

for her mother!

A new poem given!

All signs of you 

on Mother's Day…

Signs you are remembering

from Heaven's shores

and sending your love,

nurturing my grief-struck chords

with your tender heart ~

You're still a part

of our life on planet earth

while you soar the Heavens!

Your heart prints are felt

though you are not "here" ~

gifts of your love

slip through earth's sphere,

Touches of grace

that render your face:

My baby girl ~

Is still a part of my world!

God's in His Heaven,

Making all right with His world.

Thank you, Baby Girl, 

for making your way

known in time for this, 

my special Mother's Day!

Poem - Signs of Love from Heaven - Angie Bennett Prince - 5/13/2012

Picture - http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/ruby-throat-hummingbird/