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Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

Are you ready to move on?

Have you heard this, sisters? Sometimes the (usually) well-meaning person means past the grief.

This may be a simple question, but, to me, the meaning, and its implications, are far from simple.

Hmmm…move on? Frankly, I have trouble with those words. Moving on signifies, to me, a cleaving of the past—permanently. Nope. Not there. Not sure I ever will be. Not sure I ever want to be.

But what should we call it?

When my sweet husband, the love of my life and father of my children, departed early for Heaven, I couldn’t be married to him any longer.

But move on?

I prefer to move forward.

I am still me – very much alive and trying hard to continue to live in this world instead of longing for things that are no longer mine to have.

And by God’s grace, I can!

I can move forward, past those who don’t understand this grief, and give them grace anyway. I can move past the sadness and the pain into what the Lord has for me in this new season of my life. I can be a good mother to my children by leaning on God. I can choose to love again, should the Lord will it.

I can move past those who don’t understand who I am and where I am–holding onto what was beautiful and wonderful about my life with Keith, yet changing and adapting as I need to for this new life without him.

And, even when the battle is wearying, God is there. He has my back and loves me more than I could ever imagine.

I can’t help but think of the words to the old hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

As you move forward in your new life, sisters, I pray you can cling to this truth: God loves you more than you can imagine, no matter what you call it.

Dear Father, I pray that I am not bogged down by the words of this world – what they call my grief, what they call my life – but can look always to the Word of Truth that comes directly from You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.