Nobody finds it simple to resume life after the death of a close friend, sister, brother, parent, better half or child. Each brings its own hurt and discomfort and difficulty in discovering how to deal with death. The intensity of the loss will change tremendously. My feelings after the loss of a best buddy were different from the loss of my folks and those losses were noticeably different than the death of my spouse.
I was with my best friend some hours before he died. I remember him pulling at the sheets and being extraordinarily agitated. I sat beside him and held him for a while while attempting to provide comfort to my pal and friendship to his spouse. It was tricky for her to witness her hubby wrestling and to understand the end was near.
Sitting and staying with my mum in the hospital during her last five days and nights was quite a different experience. I recall taking a look at her many times times to determine if she was still breathing. She was so ready to go home to heaven; and that helped everybody who loved her. Nonetheless, watching your mother struggle to breathe during her last hours is rarely simple.
My pop, a fabulous 86 year old man who had lived a full life, died six years later with lung complications. He was also ready to go to Heaven. He had missed my mum very over those last 6 years. I wished I had known then what I know today. We furnished him a good life but I failed to realize the hurt he was going through. The night he died, I was alone with him for the last four hours of his life. I held him in my arms during those last hours, just he and I. I was able to tell him what a great pop he'd been and how much I loved him. What a privilege to get to hold him and to hear the death rattle. It became so sweet because I knew where he was headed, to see his Jesus and to see my mum.
I grew thru these experiences yet, they did not prepare me for the biggest loss of my life. My previous spouse of TWENTY-SEVEN years was identified with stage four cancer. Ten weeks later she also went home, just like my mate, my mom and my pop. This experience, in contrast to the others, rocked me to my core. It's a story all its own. Some moments I could smile, but on occasions the grief was all consuming. I might feel surrounded in a box; breathing, merely surviving was all I could manage. It was like I could only take one step at a time. It was in this experience that God started to mold, form, and change me beyond anything I might have imagined. He was preparing me to do His work through my life.
I encourage you to milk our complimentary present, “God’s Answer?” It will demonstrate to you a power to not only live life, but also a power to alter your life, beyond your wildest imagination.
Burton Rager author of “Living Life Set Free” and “God’s Answer?” Click to find out how to deal with death and receive a complimentary copy of “God’s Answer?”