Monday's Mourning Ministry - "There is strength within the sorrow, beauty in our tears..." ~ Sovereign Over Us ~Aaron Keyes

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."

~Isaiah 41:10

Monday's Mourning Ministry

Sovereign Over Us

~Aaron Keyes

"The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights..."

~Habakkuk 3:19 NIV

"But You, O LORD, are a Shield about me, my Glory, and the Lifter of my head."

~Psalm 3:3 ESV

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."

~Isaiah 43:2

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you in your latter end a hope."

~Jeremiah 29:11 ~Darby Bible Translation

"God's way is not to take His children out of trial, but to give them strength to bear up against it."

~Jamieson-Faucett-Brown Bible Commentary

~~~

My son Nathan came home this weekend to celebrate his birthday... We had a very sweet time together.

While he was here, Nathan shared with me this amazing song, 

"Sovereign Over Us," by Aaron Keyes. 

He said he had been wanting to share this song with me for awhile ~ ~ ~ 
He knows his mommy... I cried all the way through it...

Thank you Nathan for sharing this very tender song with me!


After hearing it, I immediately wanted to share this very poignant song with you all. 

May you, too, be blessed as you listen...

Sovereign Over Us

~Aaron Keyes

There is strength within the sorrow,

There is beauty in our tears.

You meet us in our mourning,

With a love that casts out fear.

You are working in our waiting;

You're sanctifying us.

When beyond our understanding,

You're teaching us to trust.

CHORUS

Your plans are still to prosper,

You have not forgotten us;

You're with us in the fire and the flood.

You're faithful forever,

Perfect in love;

You are sovereign over us.

We trust You, loving King.

You are wisdom unimagined,

Who could understand Your ways?

Reigning high above the heavens,

Reaching down in endless grace,

You're the Lifter of the lowly,

Compassionate and kind;

You surround and You uphold me,

And Your promises are my delight.

Your plans are still to prosper,

You have not forgotten us;

You're with us in the fire and the flood.

You're faithful forever,

Perfect in love;

You are sovereign over us

Your plans are still to prosper,

You have not forgotten us;

You're with us in the fire and the flood.

You're faithful forever,

Perfect in love;

You are sovereign over us.

You rescued!

Even what the enemy means for evil

You turn it for our good,

You turn it for our good and for Your glory;

Even in the valley You are faithful

You're working for our good,

You're working for our good and for Your glory.

Even what the enemy means for evil

You turn it for our good,

You turn it for our good and for Your glory;

Even in the valley You are faithful

You're working for our good,

You're working for our good and for Your glory.

Your plans are still to prosper,

You have not forgotten us

You're with us in the fire and the flood

You're faithful forever,

Perfect in love;

You are sovereign over us.

You're faithful forever,

Perfect in love;

You are sovereign over us.

Tuesday's Trust - Gone... But Still Alive... - Part Three

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. 

~Hebrews 4:16 (New Living Translation)

Tuesday's Trust

Gone... But Still Alive...

Part Three

What is life like for our children who have gone before us to Heaven?

Two weeks ago:

Tuesday's Trust - Gone... But Still Alive... - Part Two

 as I mentioned, in his book, Heaven, written in 2004, Randy Alcorn describes a "temporary" place into which we go before we are called into the New Heaven and the New Earth which is the final culmination of God's victory over Satan. This "temporary" Heaven into which we believe our (deceased) children have entered, Alcorn calls "the intermediate Heaven." In his book, he describes his rationale for this interpretation of Scripture:

"I've made these observations on the intermediate Heaven based on only three verses (Revelation 6:9-11). Unless there is some reason to believe that the realities of this passage apply only to one group of martyrs and to no one else in Heaven --- and I see no such indication --- then we should assume that what is true of them is also true of our loved ones already there, and will be true of us when we die."

The following are the next seven (7) of Alcorn's observations for what he thinks are true of this "intermediate Heaven":

• 8) The believers martyred for His name, ask God to intervene on Earth and to act on their behalf: "How long . . . until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (v. 10)

• 9) Those in Heaven are free to ask God questions, which means they have an audience with God. It also means they need to learn. In (the intermediate) Heaven, people desire understanding and pursue it.

• 10) People in the intermediate Heaven know what's happening on Earth (v. 10). The martyrs know enough to realize that those who killed them have not yet been judged.

• 11) Heaven dwellers have a deep concern for justice and retribution (v. 10). When we go to Heaven, we won't adopt a passive disinterest in what happens on the earth. On the contrary, our concerns will be more passionate and our thirst for justice greater. Neither God nor we will be satisfied until his enemies are judged, our bodies raised, sin and Satan defeated, Earth restored, and Christ exalted over all.

• 12) The martyrs clearly remember their lives on Earth (v. 10). They even remember that they were murdered. 

• 13) The martyrs in Heaven pray for judgment on their persecutors who are still at work hurting others. They are acting in solidarity with, and in effect interceding for, the suffering saints on Earth. This suggests that saints in Heaven are both seeing and praying for saints on Earth.

• 14) Those in Heaven see God's attributes ("Sovereign . . . holy and true") in a way that makes His judgment of sin more understandable.

To be continued.









Picture, thanks to ~Dee Flores of ~Christian Pictures, found in Pinterest 

Tuesday's Trust - Gone... But Still Alive... - Part Two

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. 

~Hebrews 4:16 NLT

Tuesday's Trust

Gone... But Still Alive...

Part Two

Two Earthly Views of the People Who Are Now in Heaven… 

First, from Charles Spurgeon:

June 29 Morning Charles Spurgeon devotional:

Morning

"Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
1 Thessalonians 4:14

Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise," is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They "sleep in Jesus," but their souls are before the throne of God, praising him day and night in his temple, singing hallelujahs to him who washed them from their sins in his blood. 

The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass. But what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is "rest," and that is the thought which the Spirit of God would convey to us. Sleep makes each night a Sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts fast the door of the soul, and bids all intruders tarry for a while, that the life within may enter its summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast. 

Oh! happy they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. Their quiet repose shall never be broken until God shall rouse them to give them their full reward. Guarded by angel watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, they sleep on, the inheritors of glory, till the fulness of time shall bring the fulness of redemption. What an awaking shall be theirs! 

They were laid in their last resting place, weary and worn, but such they shall not rise. They went to their rest with the furrowed brow, and the wasted features, but they wake up in beauty and glory. The shrivelled seed, so destitute of form and comeliness, rises from the dust a beauteous flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory. Blessed is death, since it, through the divine power, disrobes us of this work-day garment, to clothe us with the wedding garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who "sleep in Jesus."

~~~~~~~

Second, from Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven:

21 Observations Alcorn Makes of the Heaven to which God's children have been called:

(before the Final Rapture and Culmination of all God's Promises to Remove Sin's Curse from Mankind…

 (We will cover only seven (7) of these twenty-one (21) observations today.)

From Revelation 6:9-11 [These verses directly refer to those martyred for Christ's name, but Alcorn believes it also applies to all our loved ones who have gone on to Heaven.

• 1) When they died on Earth, they relocated to Heaven (Revelation 6:9).

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.

~Revelation 6:9 (New International Version)

• 2) There is continuity between our identity on Earth and our identity in Heaven. They are now "righteous men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23).

 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

~Hebrews 12:23 (New International Version)

• 3) People in Heaven will be remembered for their lives on Earth (Revelation 6:9).

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.

~Revelation 6:9 (New International Version)

• 4) "They called out" (Revelation 6:10) which means they are able to express themselves audibly. This could suggest they exist in physical form, with vocal cords or other tangible means to express themselves.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

~Revelation 6:10 (New International Version)

• 5) They can raise their voices (Revelation 6:10). This indicates they are rational, communicative, and emotional---even passionate--- beings, like people on Earth.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

~Revelation 6:10 (New International Version)

• 6) They called out in "a loud voice," not "loud voices." Individuals speaking with one voice indicate that Heaven is a place of unity and shared perspective.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

~Revelation 6:10 (New International Version)

• 7) They are fully conscious, rational, and aware of each other, God, and the situation on Earth.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

~Revelation 6:10 (New International Version)

~~~~~~~

May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of Heaven and earth.

~Psalm 115:15 (New International Version)

Contents, thanks to Charles Spurgeon Morning and Evening Devotionals, and to Randy Alcorn from his book, Heaven

Tuesday's Trust - Gone... But Still Alive..., Part One

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. 

~Hebrews 4:16 (New Living Translation)

Tuesday's Trust

Gone... But Still Alive...

Where are our children now? What is it like in Heaven? Who is in Heaven? God plainly spells it out in His Scripture found in Hebrews 12:22-24:

• But you have come to Mount Zion, to the City of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem.

• You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

• To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven.

• You have come to God, the Judge of all,

• To the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

• To Jesus the Mediator of a New Covenant, and

• To the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

~Hebrews 12:22-24

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Pictures, thanks to
~Hers To Treasure
~Angela Starkey via pinterest via "3:16 To Heaven"
~Angela Starkey via pinterest via "3:16 To Heaven"
~Angela Starkey via pinterest via "3:16 To Heaven"~Greg Olson, artist

~Angela Starkey via pinterest via "3:16 To Heaven"~ "In the Arms of His Love - Greg Olsen"
~Angela Starkey via pinterest via "3:16 To Heaven"

Saturday's Sayings - The Nature of Grief and Healing... - Part Two

Saturday's Sayings

The Nature of Grief and Healing...

Part Two

~~~

You cannot rush your way

through grief. Grief unfolds

with the same exquisite

timing as the rose, left to

blossom on its own time, 

until the colors slowly fade

and the petals fall away of their own accord.

~Margaret Brownley

via ~Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

~~~

~~~

~~~

I feel like this from time to time, until I recognize my grief simply mirrors my deep love and loss... 

and I realize, in feeling that intense love and loss, that it draws me closer to my child…

which draws me ever closer to God, crying out to Him...

as He draws near to me with His comfort and love...

and in such a place of grace and love, I feel that I am on holy ground…

~~~

Where there is sorrow

There is holy ground.

~Oscar Wilde

There is a sacredness in the sorrow we feel when we lose our child. It is to be honored at all times.

~2012: Love and Loss and ~Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

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Somewhere in time, my beloved one,

Our hearts will meet again...

And what an extraordinary

moment

That will be..

~Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

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Graphics, thanks to ~Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, ~2012: Love and Loss, ~MISS Foundation (dot) org

International Bereaved Mothers Day - May 5, 2013

International Bereaved Mothers Day

May 5, 2013

I will tell you a story

about a mother...

how her voice trembles

when she speaks his name

how her heart aches

just to hear his voice

how the tears gather in her soul

whenever she wears her mask

and how her love burns bright

with a fire she can't tame

I will tell you a story of my heart

~TeriAnn Sargent

Jarred's mum

~~~

Be aware that this will be a long and difficult journey. . .

Just when things begin to look better, the calendar slaps 

you with another reminder of your loss.

Sometimes the pain will be deeper five years after the loss.

As the Chinese proverb says: "We can't stop the birds from

flying over our heads, but we can stop them from

nesting in our hair."

Don't shut yourself down from the pain.

The feelings you bury will not go away;

They will hide below the surface for years to come,

but sooner or later, they will erupt without warning,

in ways that can affect your physical

and mental health.

Grief itself is not a feeling;

It is a process that can take a lifetime,

a slow journey towards acceptance and peace.

~Wings of Hope

~~~

Do You Need Me?

I Am There . . .

You cannot see Me, yet I am the Light you see by.

You cannot hear Me yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not understand My works.

I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you 

know Me

as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

~Author Unknown

~~~

"Be still and know that I am God! 

I will be honored by every nation. 

I will be honored throughout the world."

~Psalm 46:10

~~~

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies 

and God of all comfort; 

who comforts us in all our affliction…

~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Friday's Faith - Amidst My Tears

Friday's Faith

Amidst My Tears

It's really hard today

I don't know why;

It's a beautiful day,

not a cloud in the sky.

My heart is just broken;

The sobs and tears flow ~

My tears, your Bible soaking,

I'm missing my baby so…

Such a beautiful world,

Come alive in the spring,

But where's my baby girl

Amidst all these living things?

God bless us grieving dads and mothers,

For us, there's no relief;

Our hearts are ever overflowing

In this never-ending child-loss grief.

In this Bible given to you on Easter, 2000,

you were just turning 13...

In it you wrote:

My name: Merry Katherine Prince

The people I live with: My Mom & Dad, & 2 brothers

Things I'm good at: Running!

I like to read the Bible when I'm feeling: Lost, & in seek of help

Right now I try to please God by: Doing what is right

May I take a cue from you

as I feel lost, and seeking help,

and turn to my Lord for just a clue

to survive your loss amidst Grief's deepest well.

I look in your Bible and read our Lord's words…

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

....for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

.....for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

....for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

....for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

....for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, 

....for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

....for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of

righteousness,

....for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

~Matthew 5:3-12 NIV

Our value system is upside down,

As when we cry, we think we're weak,

But God in Heaven turns this all around,

For when we're at the bottom, and lost, it is Him we seek!

He comes to us, to bless our heart,

To be with us amidst this world's worst loss;

He consecrates this sacred time in the dark,

Meeting us even as we carry Grief's cross:

The poor in spirit taste a bit of His Heaven,

We who mourn, experience His own comforting,

In our meekness, we are most blessed,

For when we hunger for Him, He gives Himself more;

When we're merciful to ourselves and others, we'll receive mercy;

In our purified hearts, we better see Him!

As we give one another peace, He calls us His own daughters and sons,

And when we feel most put down, we again taste of His Heaven!

Thank You God for meeting me...

In my most weakened state of many tears,

You clear my eyes to help me see...

It is then, my Lord, that You most draw near,

granting me my much needed peace,

lifting my eyes with a view much more clear:

My child is with You and yet draws near to me,

and along with You, she wipes every tear…

Amidst a world filled with such skewed values,

It is in our tears

That You meet us and pat us,

As it is then, You and our child can best draw near,

Filling us with Love that holds the greatest of all value!

God bless us grieving dads and mothers

Who need Your comfort above all others!

Meet us here amidst each tear,

As You and our child ever to us will draw near…

Picture, thanks to Grieving Mothers, Darlene Thomas and Jill Compton
Poem - Amidst My Tears - Angie Bennett Prince - 4/5/2013
Scripture: NIV = New International Version

Friday's Faith - Grief's Well, Death's Hell, Overcome…

Friday's Faith

Grief's Well, Death's Hell, Overcome…

We have been thrown into a new land…

A land of tears, a land of pain; we weep.

Its boundaries, across the wide world span

While, it seems, the rest of the world may sleep.

Picture, thanks to ~From Grief to Greatness

When our child has died, it seems we die too

While others live on a shallower plane,

Our hearts spiral into the depths of blue,

While they despair: "Why won't your deep grief wane?!"

Picture, thanks to ~Journey of the Survivor (From Grief to Survival)

Yes, our hearts seem to plummet hell's depths:

The horror, the anguish, the depths of sorrow, and yet…

These fires are cleansing somehow, making clear

What is important in life, and drawing our child near…

Picture, thanks to ~ http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/162761

As our God delivered His Son from the pit of hell,

So too, He can deliver us from the heart of Grief's well,

Drawing us to His heart, as only He knows this deepest sorrow,

He is the One who brings Light, giving us Hope for the morrow.

Picture, thanks to ~Grieving Mother Pat Dattoli Wentworth

~ Poem - Grief's Well, Death's Hell, Overcome… - Angie Bennett Prince - February 26, 2013

Title Picture, thanks to ~Grief the Unspoken