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The Wrecking Ball of Grace

The Wrecking Ball of Grace

I hope one day, I will be able to minister grace to those I’ve hurt as I’ve licked my own wounds. I know it’s true that hurting people hurt others. I take no pleasure in the wounds I’ve inflicted in the search for understanding and validation as the waves of grief have flowed over me.

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the article in its entirety.)  

thelifeididntchoose

In the aftermath of loss, relationships suffer.

Sometimes it’s because of harsh words exchanged in the heat of emotional moments.

Sometimes it’s due to disagreements about how to deal with ongoing issues.  Often, it’s because most people just don’t know what to say and don’t know what to do in the presence of great pain and suffering.

Days and weeks and months pass and one day we wake up and realize that a previously close relationship is now distant and strained.

I know that in my grief I have felt abandoned by people I felt sure would stand with me, would never leave me, would be my most stalwart encouragers.

And I know, too, that I have shut some people out.  Some were too chipper or too quick to offer platitudes and others just seemed intolerant of my ongoing pain and sorrow.

Walls have been erected.

My heart sectioned off…

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Posted by on July 16, 2016 in Faith, Grief, Links

 

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My Mother is Gone, But Her Edits Remain | Literary Hub

It’s been a great number of years since my paternal grandmother passed away.  I was still in high school at the time.  A few short years after that, I was visiting my grandfather’s home and there on a small coffee table sat my grandmother’s Bible.  I remember opening it up and noting the great number of verses she had underlined within.

Even in my late teens I recognized the value of that Bible. Not monetary value, mind you, but personal value. My Grandmother loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Her Bible, the notations she made and the things she underlined were a clear reflection of her heart. They denoted spiritual lessons learned. They clearly indicated what she found important. They defined her. They defined her far more than the material treasures she had acquired over her lifetime.

I had hoped that one day that Bible would be mine. That maybe, I could learn from the lessons she learned. My own Bible is filled with my notations and copious amounts of underlined verses. I hope, one day, my Bible will be deemed a valuable treasure by someone else. Someone who maybe needs to hang on to the very essence of who I was at my very core. And I hope they will come to a deep understanding and love for the Father who created me as a result. That’s a worthwhile legacy.

I hope you enjoy this article written by Blair Hurley.

It’s been three years now since my mother’s death, and I’m still wondering why I haven’t spoken with her in so long. There’s a feeling of unreality about the whole thing; it’s hard to believe that …

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the complete article.)  

Source: My Mother is Gone, But Her Edits Remain | Literary Hub

 
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Posted by on July 12, 2016 in Grief, Links

 

Michaela Evanow  – An Honest Look at Prayer and Faith After Child Loss

I cannot pray. I don’t know how. It’s not that I don’t want to, but words fail me. They come out muffled and fake. They are stale and regurgitated from the days of my youth. I want to remember how …

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the complete article.)  

Source: an honest look at prayer and faith after child loss.

 
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Posted by on July 5, 2016 in Faith, Grief, Links

 

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What If?

A godly grieving father’s perspective. . . Meet Ron Duncan.

My husband wrote this earlier this last night. He said, “I’m not there yet, but I am walking towards this.”  God is working in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ.…

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the full article.)  

Source: What If?

 
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Posted by on June 28, 2016 in Faith, Grief, Links

 

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Job’s Comforters

Job’s Comforters

Insight on what might unconsciously lead a sincerely sympathetic, well-intended believer to inadvertently join the ranks of Job’s miserable comforters.

Serious food for thought here as every follower of Jesus Christ does well to examine the motivations of the heart before they speak and act. This is an area with which I personally struggle and it’s complicated by the truth that we are often driven by conflicting motivations. A sincerely righteous desire marred by sinful selfishness – at least in my case.

I am so thankful that I have the privilege of walking through the valley of the shadow of death with Melanie. It’d be my preference than neither her nor I, or any other parent for that matter, ever find themselves on this path, but this heartbroken mother has served as a blessing and encouragement to me and many other grieving parents. She turns our hearts and minds back to the lover of our souls when our hearts are torn between longing for God’s presence and comfort and a desire to hold Him at arm’s length for failing to intercede and prevent our suffering.

(Clink on the link entire “view the original post” highlighted in red below to read the article and “thelifeididntchoose” to access Melanie’s blog.)  

thelifeididntchoose

Most of us know the story of Job.

A righteous man, singled out by Satan to be tempted, ends up bereft of his children, his fortune and his health.

Sitting in the dust, scraping the pus from his wounds, three friends join him in his misery.

And they make it worse.

It’s hard to imagine that after burying a child, anything that people say or do can make you feel worse-but it is possible.

I had many friends and family that brought genuine comfort to my spirit.

They were the ones who spoke courage to my battered heart and helped me face another day when all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers and pray that the sun refused to shine.  And I will never be able to repay them for that kindness.

But there were others….people who wanted to make sense of a senseless tragedy.

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Posted by on May 16, 2016 in Adversity, Faith, Grief, Links

 

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Easter, Co-Wounded with Jesus

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Jesus of Nazareth was humiliated, tortured, and ostracized.  For some of us, the passion (suffering) inflicted upon Jesus is not so unlike what many of us have experienced in terms of our own traum…

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the article.)  

Source: PTSD Spirituality: Easter, Co-Wounded with Jesus

 
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Posted by on March 27, 2016 in Adversity, Faith, Links, Uncategorized

 

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Jesus on the Cross and PTSD Soul Wounds

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Jesus helps us to heal from PTSD soul wounds.  Understanding how Jesus is the Christ can help us better engage Jesus as a healer.  The fact that Jesus is fully human and fully divine enables us to …

Source: PTSD Spirituality: Jesus on the Cross and PTSD Soul Wounds

 
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Posted by on March 25, 2016 in Adversity, Faith, Links

 

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Remember: Why Good Friday Matters as Much as Resurrection Sunday

Remember: Why Good Friday Matters as Much as Resurrection Sunday

(Clink on the link highlighted in red entitled “view original post” below to read the complete article and “thelifeididntchoose” to access the blog.)  

thelifeididntchoose

“On the one hand Death is the triumph of Satan, the punishment of the Fall, and the last enemy. Christ shed tears at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane: the Life of Lives that was in Him detested this penal obscenity not less than we do, but more.
On the other hand, only he who loses his life will save it. We are baptized into the death of Christ, and it is the remedy for the Fall. Death is, in fact, what some modern people call “ambivalent.” It is Satan’s great weapon and also God’s great weapon: it is holy and unholy; our supreme disgrace and our only hope; the thing Christ came to conquer and the means by which He conquered.”  C.S. Lewis,  Miracles

Bury a child and suddenly the death of Christ becomes oh, so personal. The image of Mary at the foot of the…

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Posted by on March 25, 2016 in Faith, Links, Uncategorized

 

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How well did I understand grace before I understood grace? – Escape to Reality

magic-eye-3dHave you ever seen those Magic Eye 3D pictures that look random at first glance but then reveal a hidden picture? Maybe there’s a group of you looking and someone says, “Wow – look at that! It’s a …

(Clink on the link highlighted in red below to read the full article.)  

Source: How well did I understand grace before I understood grace? – Escape to Reality

 
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Posted by on March 22, 2016 in Faith, Links

 

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Fixing Me – flannelgraphs

 

This post from Flannelgraphs reminds me of an old Roberta Flack song, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”. Below are the lyrics and a link to the original soundtrack from 1973 on YouTube.

“Killing Me Softly With His Song”

[Chorus]

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him
To listen for a while
And there he was this young boy
A stranger to my eyes

[Chorus]

I felt all flushed with fever
Embarassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on

[Chorus]

He sang as if he knew me
In all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn’t there
And he just kept on singing
Singing clear and strong

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

 

Don’t skip the video — the lyrics alone don’t do the song justice and Ms. Flack sings it so beautifully!  “Killing Me Softly With His Song”.

Not all the lyrics express my feelings, but the idea that a stranger could so clearly speak the heart of another certainly fits.

Caitlin, the author of “Fixing Me”, shares her heart, story and faith with humility and eloquence. A teaser for the article follows.  I hope you will take the time to click on the link highlighted in red below!

fixing-me-living-by-faith-not-sight

 

 

“What do you do when you’re angry with the Creator of the universe and the Lover of your soul?  When you’re incredibly disappointed in your Redeemer and feel as though He can’t be trusted with the things, the people you treasure most?  What does a professing believer do with that depth of confusion and spiritual chaos? . . .”

Source: Fixing Me – flannelgraphs – Dealing with faith and finding healing in the depths of loss.

 
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Posted by on March 18, 2016 in Faith, Grief, Links, Music

 

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