God Will Carry You Through It All
My mother had a very challenging homelife which led up to her teen pregnancy. I
was born during her teen years, so we grew up together. I can say that without any
hesitation my mother’s family line are all deceased, and she buried them all; she
was the last of her family line. When I was on the mission field with our church at
that time, my mother and I would correspond through the mail and oftentimes our
letters would cross in the mail. We found we were talking about the same thing,
and she even gave wisdom to the matter at hand. I’m telling you this because my
beloved mother transitioned to Heaven in June. Her Celebration of Life was on
July 31, 2021.
There was a lot to do during that time as you could imagine. All the families pulled
together to make mom’s Celebration of Life one that she would have been proud of
including being carried by a horse-drawn carriage the last five miles to her coffin’s
resting place. Being the oldest, I didn’t display a lot of emotion because there was
so much preparation that had to be done. I was holding myself together and I think
that every family member had the same mentality. However, I’m sure everyone
was and still are grieving in their own way. Mom was always there for her family,
church family, and friends. She lived her Godly testimony with no exceptions.
Little did I realize at that time that I should have allowed myself to grieve the loss
of my best friend in the world besides my husband. I went to the doctor only to
find out that I had an outbreak of Shingles. It is over a month later and I still suffer
from it. I thought childbirth was physically challenging, but Shingles has taken my
body to a level of pain that I never knew existed. It was all due to my stress level
when my mother passed - at the very thought of not hearing her voice again, not
flying to Minneapolis to go shopping with her, or having breakfast together.
It is interesting what things you reach out for in thinking back on yesterday. There
is not a day that goes by that I don’t want to pick up the phone to hear her voice
and I respond, “Hi my sweet, this is Gail. Didn’t want anything other than to say I
love you much and have a blessed day or week.” As our loved ones begin to age,
we often time don’t want to see their declining signs because of how that will
affect us. When we see their health change, we want to ignore the signs because we
always want them to be heathy forever and never have a declining moment.
Because we want our loved ones to always be there for us! But in the wise words
of my husband: “When someone we love leaves us due to death, we grieve for
ourselves because we can’t hear them, see them, or physically touch them. But
they will live on in our thoughts, within our familiar family gestures, familiar
phrases, and expressions.”
One thing I rejoice over is that my mom is in Heaven having an awesome time
with family and friends. I will see her one day, but not now. Until then I will
continue in the work of the Lord.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always
be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
was born during her teen years, so we grew up together. I can say that without any
hesitation my mother’s family line are all deceased, and she buried them all; she
was the last of her family line. When I was on the mission field with our church at
that time, my mother and I would correspond through the mail and oftentimes our
letters would cross in the mail. We found we were talking about the same thing,
and she even gave wisdom to the matter at hand. I’m telling you this because my
beloved mother transitioned to Heaven in June. Her Celebration of Life was on
July 31, 2021.
There was a lot to do during that time as you could imagine. All the families pulled
together to make mom’s Celebration of Life one that she would have been proud of
including being carried by a horse-drawn carriage the last five miles to her coffin’s
resting place. Being the oldest, I didn’t display a lot of emotion because there was
so much preparation that had to be done. I was holding myself together and I think
that every family member had the same mentality. However, I’m sure everyone
was and still are grieving in their own way. Mom was always there for her family,
church family, and friends. She lived her Godly testimony with no exceptions.
Little did I realize at that time that I should have allowed myself to grieve the loss
of my best friend in the world besides my husband. I went to the doctor only to
find out that I had an outbreak of Shingles. It is over a month later and I still suffer
from it. I thought childbirth was physically challenging, but Shingles has taken my
body to a level of pain that I never knew existed. It was all due to my stress level
when my mother passed - at the very thought of not hearing her voice again, not
flying to Minneapolis to go shopping with her, or having breakfast together.
It is interesting what things you reach out for in thinking back on yesterday. There
is not a day that goes by that I don’t want to pick up the phone to hear her voice
and I respond, “Hi my sweet, this is Gail. Didn’t want anything other than to say I
love you much and have a blessed day or week.” As our loved ones begin to age,
we often time don’t want to see their declining signs because of how that will
affect us. When we see their health change, we want to ignore the signs because we
always want them to be heathy forever and never have a declining moment.
Because we want our loved ones to always be there for us! But in the wise words
of my husband: “When someone we love leaves us due to death, we grieve for
ourselves because we can’t hear them, see them, or physically touch them. But
they will live on in our thoughts, within our familiar family gestures, familiar
phrases, and expressions.”
One thing I rejoice over is that my mom is in Heaven having an awesome time
with family and friends. I will see her one day, but not now. Until then I will
continue in the work of the Lord.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always
be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)