Grief is so difficult and trips me up. Sometimes it’s a little stumble and sometimes you’re laid out flat. I felt laid out flat yesterday after my phone call from Kaiser. Such that I didn’t get things done. Then I didn’t make it for church this morning, but I made it for Sunday School. The lesson was good and seeing my friends was good, even though I felt empty.
My adult children and I were scheduled to have lunch with some of their extended family, on their dad’s side, that live in the Denver area. We had a good time and it lifted my spirits some.
My daughter’s 29th Birthday was last Thursday and she wanted to do a Clue Room escape game to celebrate. We had tried it in July for her brother’s 32nd birthday and if we had just 2 more minutes we would have escaped. Today we had redemption!! We played one of their newer games. We worked as a GREAT team. My son got a clue that baffled his sister and I, and is totally the reason we stoped the attacks on London, Sydney, Lagos and Shanghai…. saving the world and escaping the room with about 6 minutes to go. (We were just missing my son-in-law who didn’t feel well, and couldn’t join us.)
It was so much fun to be successful at the adventure, and I feel full of life. I wish dealing with grief was that easy all the time, but it isn’t. Fallen officers, friends passing in mere weeks after a cancer diagnosis, others with new diagnosis or someone’s cancer that has returned, all make my grief as fresh as the days after the shock wore off.
I thank the Lord for times of relief and real joy. Real living after the loss of a loved one is possible. We should live to the fullest and to God’s glory. It is the best way to honor our loved one.
Father I thank you for your blessing of life, your graciousness, your new blessings every day and the joy we can find we when seek it. May this help me to pull up my bootstraps the next time my grief is heavy, and may it help others to seek to be thankful for their day and to enjoy their life to the fullest. Amen
Grace Under Pressure 