Good Grief!

So many think that because we are not breaking up and succumbing to tears regularly that we are not grieving well. They are sure we are going to crash any day. To anyone who feels this way, let me assure you that there have been, there are, and there will continue to be tears. We miss our son Andrew very much and we grieve the future events we had planned… we grieve not having the wedding, we grieve not spending time together on vacation, his birthday, Christmas… we grieve not helping Andrew and Melanie move further north when she was done with her master’s program… we grieve that she has withdrawn from her master’s program to deal with her own grief… we grieve not having grandchildren a few years down the road… As we unpack and sort and determine the distribution of his belongings we grieve that he is not here to use his belongings.

Since much of that grief takes place in the privacy of our home and not in public, we do not show many tears to you, our friends. But be assured, we grieve and will continue to do so. Andrew left a huge hole in our lives – one that cannot be filled with anything but God’s continued love, mercy and grace.

BUT… we don’t grieve as the world grieves because we are not without hope. (I Thessalonians 4:12-14) “In this world you will have troubles, but take heart, I have overcome the world!” John 16:33 “O Death, where is your victory? O Grave, where is your sting?” I Corinthians 15:55 What you are seeing in us is not lack of grief, but God’s continued work in our lives.

We accept that we are in a time of trial – a refining fire. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:1-4

Indeed, we have hope – our son is with Jesus and we will be joining him when our time on this earth is completed. Until then, we have work to do. We are not dead but very much alive. God still loves us and continues to give us strength daily to do his good works. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

We are testing these Scriptures and proving them true – over and over. God’s grace is sufficient. His presence is with us daily. We have our hope in him and plan to spend eternity with him. And God has much for us to do… there are many who do not know him and are unaware of the great love that he has for them. So we are empowered by God to move forward – to be his servants and continue to call to Christ and to disciple those whom he places in our lives.

God is good – all the time. His character has not changed because our circumstances have changed. He is still the most awesome and powerful and holy God. It is our privilege to serve him with every breath that we have. Our hope is that it is God’s power in our lives, his mercy and his grace that you are seeing.

Yes, we are grieving – a good grief – one that is filled with hope, not despair.