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“He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

In a Moment

In one moment, my life ‘turned on a dime’.

Have you ever stopped and thought about that saying?

One meaning –

“To suddenly do something completely different from what you were doing before.” (collinsdictionary.com)

I think it is safe to say, entering a season of grief would certainly apply.

Saturday, July 16, 2016, was a wonderful day with family, Texas heat, lots of food, and laughter. Not a single thought that in 24 hours our lives would change and never be the same.

Early Sunday morning, 911 call, CPR, waiting on the ambulance, waiting on a helicopter to be transported to another hospital. We all had jobs to do, one son grabs his dad’s medicine and clothes because he will need clothes to change into. Another son and our daughter, load me into a car and we head to meet the helicopter in Wichita Falls, Texas.

And in a moment –

Doctors speaking, all information running together — too much time without oxygen, machines are doing the work…need to let him go.

And a world that seemed so normal just hours ago changed into one I did not recognize.

And though our circumstances are different, you entered an unwanted world of grief just like I did…

Emotions swirled. Widow’s fog settled in, but grief is powerful and knows no boundaries or restrictions.

Did you wonder how you would ever be whole again?

And in a moment…

The compassionate heart of Jesus moved through His Holy Spirit and comforted our hearts.

We could all share what those moments felt like. Instant peace began to flow, our heart rates slowed down and our breathing grew calm. Grace covered and wrapped us in His love and comfort. Grief was held at bay.

But grief is relentless.

August 18, 2016 – For the first time in 44 years, there was no Happy Anniversary card waiting for me when I woke up that morning. I should have been celebrating the special day with my husband, Steve. To keep from being alone, I went to the Ladies’ Meeting at my church that night.

The next morning, I began going down the list of things new widows must do. After one call, I was told I would have to prove I had been married to Steve which would require going to the Fort Worth courthouse two hours away.

And I crashed.

I hit the floor. Weeping, I began to pull things out of cabinets, drawers…throwing them to the floor. Grief can literally rob us of our sanity at times, and that is what happened to me that morning.

But in a moment, Jesus stopped grief in its tracks.

As I opened the glass door to our entertainment center, still empowered by grief, I saw a card wedged between the shelves.

It took some effort to pull it loose.

As I opened the card, I realized it was an anniversary card Steve had written to me in 2007. The amazing thing was that we lost everything we owned in the Texas wildfires in August 2011.

I stood there and read the most precious words straight from Steve’s heart, and as I unfolded the card, a letter fell to the floor.

That July day in 2016, I walked out of that hospital without being able to tell Steve goodbye. So much was in my heart that I desperately wanted him to know.

But God, in all His love for me, saved an anniversary card from 2007…a card and a letter where Steve and I shared all the things we would have said…if we had been given the time.

I have learned so much about the compassionate heart of Jesus and His love for me through grief.

Grief may overwhelm me still, but God comes in more powerful than the weight of my grief. He has never failed to calm my heart with His presence.

There is “A MOMENT” I am waiting for now…

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
I Corinthians 15:52 (NASB)

And at that moment —

We will lay down our grief and the burdens of this world, and we will see Jesus.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for the times You comfort our hearts in this season. May we be able to feel Your arms around us as You speak peace in the storms we face. Amen