...'I never dreamed I would be divorced"
......"I never thought I’d have to some day bury a baby"
........."Single parenting was something others did, not me"
............"I never thought of myself as the “mother of the handicapped.”
Within 13 months, I was all of these. I wished to die, but I had a son who deserved to live. I have discovered God always gives us a reason to live.
Psychologists teach that the resolution of grief is sadness. It is sad that Jerry and I didn't make it. It is sad that Justin had to suffer and die.
But it is also okay. Writing this book and crying a mountain of tears transformed Justin from my tragedy on earth into my treasure in Heaven. The Bible teaches that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in the grandstands of Heaven cheering for us as we run the race of life (Hebrews 12:1–2). Whenever I am tempted or discouraged, I imagine Justin in my grandstands saying, "Come on, Mom! You can do it!" Every day, I gain strength from Justin's memory. Love truly transcends space and time.
And working through my grief over the divorce that followed transformed me from the victim of life to the victor over my circumstances. Yes, it is sad, but life is good. Yes, it is sad, but God is good. Yes, it was sad, but marriage to Milt is wonderful. When God repaid to Job the years that the locusts had eaten, he didn't get back anything he lost, but God "blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12). I understand that now.
I wish you strength and courage in your own journey. More than that, I wish you God's peace. May you know that rain clouds come and go and that the sun will shine again. May you live for that great sunrise morning when God shall wipe away all tears. May those you love cheer you from Heaven's grandstands until that day when they will welcome you home.
May you find strength through Justin's story to trust God through the trials of your own life, however different your journey may be.
Divorce And Grief Recovery
There is hope...