Monday, August 20, 2007

Facing the Future with Hope

When loss comes into our lives, dreams are snatched away and we are left wondering how to face the future. We feel like we’ve been thrown into a deep, dark hole with no way out. Loneliness becomes our only companion, and we lose all interest in the daily routine of life. The very things that used to occupy our time and bring us pleasure no longer have any significance at all.

Grieving is hard work, and it takes lots of time to travel our journey of grief. There is no road map to follow, so we don’t know when the next bend or twist in the road is coming. We can’t tell where there are steep hills or flat terrain. When we seem to be traveling along okay, suddenly we find that we’ve hit a mountain that seems almost like it’s impossible to climb. Grief is new, unexplored territory.

There is some amazing about our grief journey, though. It’s hard to explain; yet it happens all of the time. A rainbow appears out of nowhere and gives us hope. A butterfly lights upon our windowsill and we find ourselves smiling. A meal appears on our table from a neighbor and we suddenly feel less alone. An invitation to dinner comes and we feel loved. The telephone rings and we have a much needed listening ear.

God never allows us to travel this journey of grief alone. He sees to it that we have help all along the way. He gives us rest when we are weary, and hope when we feel lost. Just knowing that we have this added inner strength keeps us going until one day we find that we are no longer in that lonely hole, but we are sitting among the flowers and we can once again see beauty in life! --Clara Hinton

“Hope is the friendly, unexpected voice pulling us back to a warmer world.” --Clara Hinton

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” --Psalm 23:1

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