Recently, my husband and I returned from visiting our daughter and her husband; and meeting our new grandson! What a joy to hold this new life, another child to love and nurture! Our time spent with them (including their 3 year old son) was truly delightful!
Only a few weeks earlier we had laid to rest my dear mother. The bittersweet concept of the “Circle of Life” was so poignantly real to me. Saying “goodbye” and then saying “hello”; embracing one who is departing this earthly journey, and then embracing one who is just beginning theirs. Perhaps “bittersweet” isn’t the correct term, as it wasn’t “bitter” to have my Mom depart to an eternity of joy with our Lord! However, the loss of her presence is keenly felt. A sadness because of the void now in my heart! I have heard friends say that “you will always miss your mother”, it is the nature of the relationship (if it has been a loving and nurturing one). Memories from all the years of interaction often trickle back.
I am even more keenly aware of the deep and sustaining love that our Lord Jesus has for us in these times! It is easy to rely on a loving parent, spouse, or friend for the physical and emotional needs we have. Over the course of our lives, these relationships become so intertwined with our own, and our hearts lean on these people in more ways than we may even realize. When they are gone we are abruptly aware of the loss to our own sense of well-being. It is in these deep, inner personal, and often unspoken moments that Jesus will meet us, if we invite Him .
Invite Him! Let Him be for you that sustaining love and source of strength!
As written in the dear old hymn, ‘Abide With Me’ (Henry F. Lyte 1847, Public Domain)
“…in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”