Epilogue
What a journey…to be finished with my first writing
task….to come to the point where I thank God for the amazing calendar I asked
for almost a year ago. The irony of the
moment is ….the calendar is really not finished. I must continue to listen to the words he
will feed me…continue to study and search his word for the directions to my day
by day walk with him. I must hope that I
have a future…..as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 29:11, “1For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. And then will I be blessed…for he
also wrote in Jeremiah 17:7, “ Blessed is the man that trusteth in
the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”
Even as I reread these pages to edit and revise, I
am reminded that I still have not grasped all the wisdom God gave me to
write. I still struggle with many of the
concepts God gave me in these pages…and I will need to continue to reread the
scriptures and words until they become a part of my heart. As I teach my students in the classroom…many
repetitions are needed to sometimes understand a concept…to grasp it so you can
teach to someone else.
It is also time for me to give credit to the people
who helped inspire me to this task. God
is my editor…my best friend…my new husband…he deserves any glory that might
come from these pages. My friends, my
family, my wonderful church…the Sunday School teacher…the many people who read
bits and pieces of this work and gave me advice. They deserve my gratitude and maybe even a
homecooked Sunday dinner. And I thank my sweet Mitchell…who stares at
me with that sweet smile of his from the frame above the desk where I
write. I can hear him telling me, “you
should really write some day…you have a way with words.” He always told me it would be ‘our’ ticket to
early retirement.
My thanks also the wonderful technology God gave us
to do research. I turned to the internet
and bible.com many days as I searched for deeper meaning to the words he would
place on my heart. The topical research I was able to do on these sites made it
possible for God to quickly give me the scriptures that would support the words
he gave. And I can’t imagine writing
without a computer keyboard …horrible visions of quill pens…tons of wasted
paprus…what nightmares! I can’t imagine
being able to write with an old fashioned pencil and piece of paper…although I
do use this method to journal each night during my study and prayer time.
My greatest thanks goes to the Lord of my life…my
new husband…who gives me words even through my tears. Some of the tears are
still the pain from the loss of my Mitchell, but the most of them…they are tears
of great joy as I realize he can carry me through anything. Almost a year has past…I have grown so much
closer to the Lord than I ever imagined I could. God has become so big that I am slowly
realizing he can not be contained.
As I search for just the right words to close with…I
am reminded of a sweet couple from my church...a sweet couple struggling with
their own pain…the loss of their son.
This father stood at our pulpit one Sunday morning not to long ago. Like me, he and his sweet wife are recovering
from grief. Eight months ago, the cancer
their son was asked to bear… gave him his early ticket to heaven. His death
placed them in this role of grief…this role we are not familiar with or want
for many reasons to invade our happy lives.
He and his wife wanted to thank our church for the prayers and support
that have helped them get through this trying time. And so … through his
tears…and the rest of the church’s tears…..we were all babbling…sharing in his
pain…he shared this passage from Isaiah 57.
1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
2He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
As soon as I heard these sweet words from God’s Holy word…I knew they were to be my new comfort. Those of us that have lost loved ones…really did not lose them…if they knew God. If they knew God…they are in the glorious presence of the father…praising him for saving their souls. Some of us too may be taken early someday…and those of us that are left will be raised with them when Christ returns for us all. And those of us that are left…we still have work to do…so that more of our friends and family may be counted in the number of those who are resurrected to the father.
I urge you to start your own calendar. He is waiting to give you the words that will
help you heal the gaping wound your loss has created. Open your heart to him and ask him to help
you…to show you the pathway to peace in this storm he has asked you to ride
through. As Paul…one who rode many
storms out with the help of his father…wrote in Romans 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power
of the Holy Ghost.”
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