Monday's Mourning Ministry - Then Came the Morning!

Monday's Mourning Ministry

The Compassionate Friends/USA

http://bit.ly/8Dosa

I joined The Compassionate Friends/USA Facebook group this past week! (See website address above.) Compassionate Friends is a group of people who have in common the death of one or more of their own children; it is a place for grieving parents who best understand one another's pain to go to find comfort, compassion, and understanding amidst our terrible grief.

This week, I have done less blogging as I have been spending time writing to new friends I have met there. Several of these new friends have begun to follow my blog, and I welcome you! May God use my words to touch your pain and to surround you with His healing presence.

To my Compassionate Friends:

May He cover you with His feathers, and under His wings may you find refuge.

*******

Searching the Bible on Behalf of us Bereaved Parents as we Grieve Our Great Loss…

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord,

“He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God in whom I trust.”

He will cover you with His feathers,

and under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalm 91:1,2,4

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Then Came the Morning!

Then Came the Morning!

Lyrics

They all walked away, with nothing to say;

They'd just lost their dearest friend.

And all that He said, now He was dead,

So this was the way it would end.

The dreams they had dreamed,

Were not what they seemed,

Now He was dead and gone.

The garden, the jail,

The hammer, the nail,

How could a night be so long?

(chorus)

Then came the morning,

Night turned into day.

The stone was rolled away,

Hope rose with the dawn.

Then came the morning,

Shadows vanished before the sun.

Death had lost and Life had won,

For morning had come!

The angel, the star,

The kings from afar;

The wedding,

The water, the wine…

And now it was done,

They'd taken her son,

Wasted before His time.

She knew it was true,

Because she'd watched him die too,

She'd heard them call Him just a man.

Oh, but deep in her heart,

She knew from the start,

Somehow her Son would live again!

Then came the morning,

Night turned into day.

The stone was rolled away,

Hope rose with the dawn.

Then came the morning,

Shadows vanished before the sun.

Death had lost and Life had won,

For morning had come!

Death had lost and Life had won,

For morning had come!

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

John 11:25 NIV

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.

I Corinthians 15:19-23 NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in Heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

I Peter 1:3-6 NIV

The Compassionate Friends/USA: http://bit.ly/8Dosa Also www.compassionatefriends.org

All Scriptures are from the New International Version of The Holy Bible

Then Came The Morning Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/

Monday’s Mourning Ministry – Farther Along…

Farther Along . . .

Monday’s Mourning Ministry

Searching the Bible on Behalf of us Bereaved Parents as we Grieve Our Great Loss…

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

The LORD Speaks

^{Job 38:1} Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

² "Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-

⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

⁸ "Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?

¹² "Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,

¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.

¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶ "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ "What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?

²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!

²² "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³ which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?

²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,

²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?

²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

³¹ "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?

³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?

³⁴ "Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?

³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

³⁶ Who endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind?

³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?

³⁹ "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

^{Job 39:1} "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

² Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?

³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.

⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.

⁵ "Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes?

⁶ I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.

⁷ He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout.

⁸ He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.

⁹ "Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?

¹⁰ Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?

¹¹ Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?

¹² Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.

¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,

¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,

¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.

¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.

¹⁹ "Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰ Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?

²¹ He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.

²² He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.

²³ The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.

²⁴ In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶ "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?

²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.

²⁹ From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰ His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he."

^{Job 40:1} The LORD said to Job:

² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"

^{Job 41:1} Then Job replied to the LORD :

² "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know."

Job 38, 39, 40:1-2, 41:1-2 NIV

Farther Along

The Peasall Sisters

Farther along we'll know all about it.

Farther along we'll understand why.

Cheer up my brothers; live in the sunshine…

We'll understand it all by and by.

Soon with the Lord our wonderful Savior,

We’ll be at home beyond the blue sky;

There we shall meet the dear ones awaiting…

We’ll understand it all by and by.

Farther along we'll know all about it.

Farther along we'll understand why.

Cheer up my brothers; live in the sunshine…

We'll understand it all by and by.

We’ll understand it all by and by!

http://www.biblegateway.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc6mcKUucaw

Best.Weekend. Ever. – Too High a Price . . .

Korda: Too high a price for the Best. Weekend. Ever

By George Korda

Posted September 7, 2009 at 9:01 a.m.

KNOXVILLE — The movie poster showed, from the back, a young man with his head in a toilet and a promotional line that said “Best. Weekend. Ever.”

I saw the poster some months ago but didn’t notice the name of the movie, just that three-word line. It made me think of my nephew, Cameron. He died six years ago around this time of year, a casualty of a similarly celebratory frame of mind and terrible, fatal judgment.

Cameron had just arrived back at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. The 22-year-old was ecstatic over being accepted into the Sigma Chi fraternity. He went out to party, perhaps seeking the Best. Weekend. Ever.

I’m not 100 percent clear on all the details surrounding his death. It’s not a subject on which I have thought it my business to quiz my sister in depth. What I do know is that he mixed alcohol, perhaps binge drinking, with Oxycontin. Sometime during the night, he either stopped breathing or choked. He never woke up.

He was wearing his Sigma Chi shirt as he lay in his casket at the funeral home in Houston, Texas. Several hundred people attended his memorial service. Some were in suits and ties. Some looked as if they’d just come off-stage after performing at a heavy metal concert.

Whoever they were, and for whatever reason they were there, my hope when it came my turn to speak was that I could communicate to them that Cameron’s loss should be proof that if necessary, they should change their minds, habits and approach to life if they were in a search for the Best. Weekend. Ever.

Cameron was a big kid and a big personality. A lot of charm. Great wit. A bit on the loud side, but that runs in the family. There was a sense surrounding Cameron that he was exulting in life.

Life, however, hits back when abused.

That’s why that movie poster periodically flashes into my memory. Our popular culture possesses a highly influential group of people who make money and who become famous from popularizing destructive and even deadly behavior for “entertainment.”

From “Animal House” to “The Hangover,” how many movies have we seen where some form of drunken or drugged behavior by young people is glorified for comedic purposes?

More accurately put, how many movies have we seen where some form of drunken or drugged behavior by young people is glorified so kids could be lured into theaters by adults whose interest is in separating the kids from their money?

Those depictions aren’t the reason Cameron died. He was responsible for his decisions. But it’s a dead-on certainty such messages were contributing factors.

We have a society in which everything from MTV to movies is part of a multi-billion dollar industry that injects kids with a perverted idea of what behavior is cool and fun. And when kids succumb to the lure of that pervasive serpent their parents are told it was they who failed their children.

This is a seriously twisted state of affairs.

There was nothing positive about Cameron’s death. But in its aftermath things have happened that made a constructive difference in people’s lives. His death drew my sister – and our whole family – closer together. A successful business person, she has, with much reflection, determination and prayer, dedicated her life to God’s service.

Cameron would have been 28 years old this coming Christmas Eve. Instead, his mother continues to mourn the loss of her only child. He’ll never realize the joys of having his own family. Whatever success potential he possessed – and it was significant – will never be known. In all of it, he would have been something to see.

His loss was too high a price to pay for the Best. Weekend. Ever.

George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV. He hosts “State Your Case” Sunday afternoons from noon to 3 p.m. on FM 100, WNOX and appears on the “Hallerin Hilton Hill” show regularly on WNOX. He is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.

(George Korda’s daughter is Shannon Korda; she and our three children Rollin, Nathan, and Merry Katherine were in the same Youth Group at Central Baptist Church-Bearden here in Knoxville. This story is about Shannon’s cousin, Cameron. Thank you George for sharing so that we may learn and be warned. May God be with your sister and all of your family as you grieve the loss of Cameron, your precious nephew.)

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/sep/07/korda-too-high-price-best-weekend-ever/

Monday’s Mourning Ministry - Go Rest High

"The Piercing Light Of His Love Defeats

The Darkness & Despair Of Loss"

~Danielle Helms

Monday’s Mourning Ministry

Searching the Bible on Behalf of us Bereaved Parents as we Grieve Our Great Loss…

"(God) has sent (Jesus) to bind up the brokenhearted . . . to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve (in His family)--to bestow on (us) a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (We) will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."

Isaiah 61:1b,2b,3

“Go Rest High”

Written by Vince Gill for his brother's funeral

Sung by Vince Gill/Sonya Isaacs/Becca Isaacs

Go Rest High!

And for those who have gone on to Heaven before us:

"The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Isaiah 51:11

***********

Vince Gill's song captures Merry Katherine’s life at the time she was killed. She so loved her Lord, yet she was fully engulfed in a spiritual battle for her soul. Vince just captures it:

She loved to belt out songs to God in her bedroom; her love for God was real . . . is real. Her precocious nature was real also: “You weren’t afraid to face the devil . . .” “You were no stranger to the rain” “I know your life . . . on earth . . . was troubled” “Only you could know the pain . . .”

And her spirit was so tender, so loving, so in love with the very God with whom she struggled: “Wish I could see the angels faces when they hear your sweet voice sing . . .” “Go to Heaven a-shoutin’ love for the Father and the Son!”

So sweet Merry Katherine,

“Go rest high on that mountain; baby, your work on earth is done. Go to Heaven a-shoutin’ love for the Father and the Son! Yes, go to Heaven a-shoutin’ love for the Father and the Son!”

***********

The Isaacs sing with Vince on this video; their own music is a favorite of mine to hear. Merry Katherine would also hear their songs playing in my room as I listened to them almost constantly during those tumultuous days of praying for, pulling for, my baby girl in her struggle.

They just did a concert at the Tennessee Theatre last weekend to benefit Alzheimers suffererers (the very day I fell and broke my pelvis). They are from a town just about 50 miles north of us.

As a family, the Isaacs have had their own struggles of loss that have breathed life into their outcries to God through song. In other words, they “get it”! We have gotten to know them and love each one of them; we are so very thankful for them and their ministry to our hearts . . . to our broken hearts.

With special thanks to

The Isaacs: Sonya, Lily, Rebbecca, and Ben

http://isaacsinsiders.blogspot.com/

All Scripture in New International Version

http://twitpic.com/ebsxy Picture by Danielle Helms, friend and grieving mom

http://twitpic.com/e86lz Picture by Danielle Helms, friend and grieving mom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_xFOdgfJI&feature=related

http://isaacsinsiders.blogspot.com/

Grief’s Turbulent Sea

Grief’s Turbulent Sea

I stand atop Grief’s rocky carapace

Amidst its sea of fog swift looming up,

From mourners’ tears that glaze each barren face

As crystals of love spill from each heart’s cup.

I look and look to find my loved one there

In misty waters atop death’s deep dark,

But alas, each swelling wave roils up bare,

Yielding no living child to disembark. . . .

Oh tell me now, as I’m beside myself,

Where’s the Shore of Grief’s continental shelf?

http://simplysnickers.blogspot.com/2009/08/poetry-prompt-through-sunday-september.html with prompts bare, bark, beside

Picture: “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818

Written 9/6/09 - Poem - Grief's Turbulent Sea - Angie Bennett Prince