Today was a day of graduation open houses. A total of 9 we attended and at everyone they had a spread of food. It took a monumental effort to limit myself to small quantities at each of the open houses. These open houses were more than just food. It was all about the people who came together in honor of the graduating senior.
At the final open house I had a conversation with a older gentleman who shared with me the tragedy of losing a child in 1961. He and his wife were in the beginning years of their marriage when their 4 1/2 year old son died unexpectedly He shared his painful grief journey about how they each traveled different paths in the grieving process. He said that the loss of his son was so painful that it took 20 years before he could even mentioned his son's name again. He and his wife stayed married., but the death changed the two of them forever.
Furthermore, Paul shared with me that just several years ago his daughter lost her 14 year old son when he was crossing highway 8 coming home form wrestling practice. He said that the hardest thing was watching his daughter going through the same pain he had gone through in 1961.
I was able to share our families grief journey of losing our daughter Maria five years ago and how God has walked with us every step of the way with our journey. Just as Paul was there to support his daughter God used him to help this dad understand that there is hope at the end of the tunnel of grief.
If you are going through a difficult painful process you may not see how God is going to use your pain and you may not realize this for many years, but in time God will provide opportunities where you will be able to share your pain to give others hope that God will walk with them every step of the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment