Saturday's Sayings - Missing Your Light...

Saturday's Sayings

Missing Your Light...

There are days when troubles fall all around. 

When dark clouds bring hope crashing to the ground. 

The road once easy turns rugged and steep. 

Weary, bruised and broken you can only weep. 

But during these storms that life will send, 

God is with you to the very end.

~Jimmy McClendon

~~~

~~~

My Heart

it happened again today

as it has many times before

the bandage 

it loosened 

the stitches 

they broke free

fissures

all at once ruptured

and the life poured out

fragments now

carried by tears

waiting for kisses

tossed upon the currents

such beautiful music 

never again to be heard… 

~Grieving Mother, Tammy Brown in loving memory of Larry Brown

~~~

~~~

~~~

My tear stained voice
runs wearied to You,
as it carries a melody
that my heart misplaced.
Your light lifts
my tired and broken soul's voice,
as I hold up a heart,
in deep need of grace. 

Will You teach me to sing,
when I don't know the words
and the music won't flow.
Will You show me your song?
will You dance in my heart,
place my steps where they'll grow? 

My silent pen stands
on the blank, empty page,
while it waits to move forward
from this soundless place.
This story I'm living
was written by You.
Will you move in my pages
and carry me through? 

Will You teach me to read,
when I don't see the course
that You wrote for my life?
Will You show me your words,
that You wrote on my heart,
before You wrote time? 

Will You teach me to see?
Every moment You are
where You want me to be.
Will You show me Your way?
So I can live in Your truth
until my dying day. 

When I look to your Son,
I fall in His arms
and You tell me my journey is done. 

~Copyright 2010 Christi Armstrong
(Some capitalizations, mine)

~~~

~~~

My Child Has Been Set Free


Daughters hold a special bond
That nothing can replace
Their smiles can chase the blues away
And brighten up a face.

Joys we’ve known, a special day
Shared between us two
Secret talks and peaceful walks
Just to name a few.

Times of reminiscing
The day you learned to crawl
Looking through the photos
I’ve always kept them all.

But one sad day, the phone did ring
It tore my world in two
A voice came on the other end
“I have bad news for you.”

The precious girl, I loved so much
Was quickly leaving me
So many things we might have known
Will never come to be.

Thoughts of her are everywhere
I cannot let her go
But somewhere up in heaven
A star does softly glow.

She sees a Joy unknown to me
Her face is full of Light
They walk into the Promised Land
God holds her hand so tight.

Just as the shifting sands of time
Flows gently out to sea
Here today and gone tomorrow
My child has been set free.

Author/Written By:
Marilyn Ferguson
©2005

~via B.J.S.A.

~~~

~~~

~~~

• ☜♡☞ Dancing With Angels ☜♡☞
  
  
  
  It’s just so hard to believe
  
  All I have to hold is your memory
  
  From this side of the clouds all I see is grief
  
  But on the other side I know you’re free
• 
  And you’re dancing, dancing with angels.
  
  
  
  Somewhere just out of my reach
  
  You’re keeping heavenly company
  
  When I’m feeling lonely it’s for myself I cry
  
  ‘Cause there aren’t any tears in paradise
• 
  When you’re dancing, dancing with angels.
  
  
  
  I can almost hear your laughter
  
  See the fullness of your joy
  
  Knowing that you’re present with the Lord
  
  And though today I miss you I know the day will come
  
  When every believer will behold the Son
• 
  And we’ll be dancing, dancing with angels.
  
  
  
  Ⓒ 1997 Dayspring Music / Lehsem Music
  Words and Music by J. Mandeville & S. Siler

~via grieving parents, A.S. and G.M.D.

~~~

On my worst days I know

Your light will find its way to me.

Pictures, thanks to Grieving Mother ~ Jill C., Grieving Mother, Tammy Brown, Grieving Mother ~ D.T., Remembering Homicide Victims, Letters to Heaven, and Happy Heart Daily

Saturday's Sayings - Can Death Awaken Us to Living?

Saturday's Sayings

Can Death Awaken Us to Living?

The death of a child can make us feel like we are coming to the end of ourselves. It forces us to see how dominant that relationship was in determining our happiness. It removes the foundation we relied upon for our well being. But maybe coming to this 'end' can also open a window to a beginning. The beginning of a new or stronger connection to God/the other side. It could lead to an awakening.

~Marsha Flynn Abbott

*****

The grief over losing a child never goes away but over time it can transform you. The need, loneliness, concern and love transfers into a love of other people, caring about causes, noticing need. Of course our child never really left. In fact, they're closer than they've ever been, just out of sight.

~Sylvia Browne

*****

Have you heard people say, "God wouldn't give you more than you could handle."?

That comment bothers me every time I hear it; it feels like it minimizes our great burden of grief and pain we must handle but feel so poorly equipped to do so. God has made it clear in Scripture, there are many things we will not be able to handle, but with His help, we will find the strength we need. I saw the following quote this week that I think is a better, more accurate one:

Sharing from Grief Share…..

God doesn't give us what we can handle… He helps us handle what we're given.

~contributed by grieving mother, KBP

*****

No matter how many years have gone by, no matter how much you might have grown or transcended, there will be moments (even days) when your emotions are as raw as when the loss first occurred. These grief 'bursts' are completely normal. Don't judge or resist them, simply flow with them. They can be triggered by a special day or an ordinary day . . . by a smell, sound, or memory. Just know this is the nature of grief.

~Transcending Loss (on Facebook)

*****

HANDLING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

~from http://www.alivealone.org/alivealone.htm

~recommended by grieving mother, Bonni Rubinstein

Relatives and friends can be very uncomfortable with your grief and therefore, they may try to persuade you to do things for which you aren't ready. They may tell you that you "should" feel better or that you "shouldn't" talk about it. Only you know what is good for you; consequently, you should do only what you find comfortable, even if it means not seeing some people for awhile.

Other people may have set a time table on how long your grief should last. Coping with the death of a child takes years, not weeks or months, and unless you have had a child die, it's impossible to understand. Stick up for yourself; it is difficult when you are not sure of anything. You know how you feel, so don't let anyone tell you how to act, think, or feel.

Tell your relatives and friends what you want them to do. If you want to be remembered at anniversaries and holidays and they are remiss, let them know how it makes you feel. Also, share with them that you want your child to (be) mentioned in conversation. You may cry, but let them know it is normal and they are not the cause of your crying. Let them know it is better for you to cry than for them not to mention your child, which may cause you to grieve silently.

*****

One of my new Facebook friends, grieving mother Marsha Bell, has the following quotations on her Facebook page ~ most of the quotes are Scriptures ~

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

~ 2 Corinthians 3-7

Oh Lord, you will ordain peace for us; you have done for us all our works.

~Isaiah 26:12

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil; Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

~Isaiah 57:1-2

When I awake in heaven I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face.

~Psalm 17:15

*****

For those losing a baby…

via The Compassionate Friends, USA

We've heard so many comments similar to those expressed in the following poem. . .

TO THOSE WHO LOOK AWAY

To those who look away

when I grow teary-eyed in the baby department,

look a little deeper.

Surely you have some compassion in your heart.

To those who change the subject

when I speak my sons' names,

change your way of thinking.

It just might change your whole life.

To those who roll their eyes

and say that we barely had them at all,

how could we miss them so much,

in our hearts we have seen them live a thousand times.

We have seen their first steps, first day of school,

their weddings, and their children.

We have had them forever in our minds.

To those who say we can have another,

we did. I thank God for her everyday,

but even if I have twenty more babies,

I will forever have two in the grave,

and that is two too many.

To those who say to get on with my life,

I have. It is a different life,

The life of a grieving mother.

One with a tremendous amount to be thankful for,

but also one with a lot to mourn the loss of!

Do not judge the bereaved mother. She comes in many forms.

She is breathing, but she is dying.

She may look young, but inside she has become ancient.

She smiles, but her heart sobs.

She walks, she talks, she cooks, she cleans, she works, she IS,

but she IS NOT, all at once.

She is here, but part of her is elsewhere for eternity.

Do not dismiss us:

we have shaped more than just the future generation.

We have released all the tiny angels who are watching over you.

Open your eyes to US

and you just might see THEM.

~~~ Author Unknown ~~~

By: The Compassionate Friends/USA

~From Our Angels and Angel Family Friends

*****

Tomorrow I Will Cry Some More

~by grieving mother, Dee Souza Tutka

Dreamed I touched your hair today

I hoped to take some pain away

Upon this brush of silk behind

Lay strands of love to keep in mind.

Then held your earrings in my hand

And beads of crystal on broken strand

Like broken hearts reflecting light

Of stolen dreams into the night.

Read the letters left near the grave

Each photo, candle, flower save

Tokens of love left for you

Treasures of friendships tried and true.

Broken that you left so soon

And now you live beyond the moon

Out of reach and cannot touch

Lives the child I love so much.

One day I wont need these things

Ill be with you where angels sing

So for today Ive cried enough

I gently put away your stuff

Safely tucked inside my drawer

Tomorrow I will cry some more.

I Love You Viviana

October 14, 1991-November 20, 2009

Dee Cavalli-Tutka

*****

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)

~contributed by grieving mother, A.H.

*****

Just Because

By Raivenette

Just because I no longer
stand in front of your eyes
doesn't mean you can't see me.
Close them,
I am there.
Just because I no longer
answer when you call my name
doesn't mean you can't hear me.
Speak softly, listen carefully,
there is my voice.

Just because I can no longer
touch your hands
doesn't mean you can't feel me.
Hold on to another,
my arms are there.

Just because I am no longer there
to show you I love you
doesn't mean my love is gone.
Place your hand on your heart,
feel its beat.
I am there.

~contributed by grieving mother, K.C.-H.

Picture from ~grieving mother, Marsha Flynn Abbott

Friday's Faith - God does not fill the gap . . .

Dietrich Bonhoeffer before his death in the

Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945

Friday's Faith

God does not fill the gap . . .

Nothing can make up for the absence

of someone we love. . . . It is nonsense

to say that God fills the gap; God

doesn't fill it but on the contrary, God

keeps it empty and so helps us keep

alive our former communion with

each other, even at the cost of pain. . . .

The dearer and richer our memories,

the more difficult the separation. But

gratitude changes the pangs of memory

into a tranquil joy. The beauties of the

past are borne, not as a thorn in the

flesh, but as a precious gift in themselves.

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Picture Dietrich Bonhoeffer - http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/bonhoeffer/