The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
It has been said, “After great love comes great grief” (Betty J. Carmack, 2003) Does it ever end? You wake up and the reality hits you, it DID happen. You try to, or just long to, run from it. Just run! Yet you can’t run fast enough. It’s like something is on you and you can’t get it OFF!! It burns; It cuts to the core of your being human. It sits on your heart like a lead brick. The tears come, the groans come, and the wailing and screaming begin and then end. This is GRIEF! The emotion I believe we dread the most, yet we still experience it.
As a child it was a distance cousin. It came, but was never completely understood. As we age it comes nearer, and we cannot run far enough to get away from the grief we must face. We suffer our share of broken hearts and deep disappointments in life and each time we find a strength inside to cope. Still, it is a wave that relentlessly comes again and again.
Christmas is to be a time when we celebrate the true meaning of the season, and the faint smell of joy in the air appears to block anything that might hint at such a unwelcome emotion. Somehow it cannot be right. We question all that we believe, and why, just because grief caught us off guard on Christmas Eve? When we lose someone we have loved most of our lives the world suddenly seems empty and silent. Not the familiar ‘silent night’ we sing, but a hushed stillness that makes all that we perceive around us somehow darkened. The safe arms are gone, the wall of protection has come down.
Suddenly we long to be a little child again, praying for everything to go back to the way it was before we grew up to experience tragedy in full measure! We long for a time when life made sense to our innocent hearts.
And so our faith is all that can hold us now. It does not make the pain less intense, but we just have to know there is a way out of all this pain. Heaven is closer now. We rally all the strength we have inside us for the sake of those who are also hurting as we are. We watch as the quality of life in those we love has diminished. We watch as close family members grieve in their own unique way. We watch and come to realize that hope does float. Sometimes it treads water, but then it really does float. We’ll be on top again, somehow, someplace. We wonder will we ever feel joy again? Will the angel’s sings on high and things make sense again? We can’t get away from the pain, but we can hold on to a strength that is greater than we.
Yes, the list of those we lose has begun to lengthen. And, it will get longer. All we have left is God. What would we do without HIM? There are three guarantees in this life; birth, death, and grief…..
*Dedicated to the memory of my precious mother, Aileen Meadows, who went home to Heaven on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2014.
Hugging you in prayer, Annie. There are three gifts that ameliorate those three guarantees: faith, hope and love. Trusting the Spirit is bathing you in them in this valley and holding you fast. love, bj
Annie, dear one, your words speak your heart’s cry so beautifully. My family has also just experienced a tragedy, the day after Christmas, although the person is still hanging on, after a senseless accident. It is hard at anytime, but if we allow it to, a heartbreak can affect how we view the ‘day’. God is with you and your family, as He always is. This is a beautiful expression of love and loss. I will be praying for you in the days to come. Blessings!
My family has taken a lose of two members a month apart in Oct. and Nov.
It seems so hard to wrap your mind around the fact that they are no longer among us. I miss talking with my sister as we were planning to get together in the near future.
My only sense of peace is that they are with The Lord.
I do not know what your are experiencing but this is the only peace that I know of to go forward. Praise The Lord that this is a reality He gives that helps us to move on with life.
You expressed your heart so well. I continue to pray for you & all those your beloved Mother left behind.
Annie,
Know that you are surrounded in prayer by a writing family who loves you as a dear sister. Thank you for sharing your heart as you go through the grieving process. May you find a special piece of joy to take away from each day as you continue to move forward in the hope of Jesus.
Dear, sweet Annie, you penned your heart so beautiful. Your words will be such a tender help to those who are experiencing their own great loss this season. Words of sadness yet full of hope in our loving God. I’m sure your mother and heavenly Father are both saying, “Wow, look at the caring, powerful way this precious daughter has expressed her deep pain and grief. You trained her up well.” Praying for you, my dear.