It is often said that when a person enters into grief their lives are changed forever. They become much more sensitive to the needs around them. No longer are they interested in pursuing worldly treasures because they know how quickly those treasures will disappear, They become in tune to the suffering of their friends and like a burning building they are the first ones to rush in to save those trapped by the inferno.
Grief will do that to us. Grief especially does it to those of us who have seen a child prematurely leave us. There is nothing that prepares us for the sudden loss of a child. Oh yes, we have grief books that tell us what to do when a parent dies. We are prepared from the time we are little when our parents tell us that there will be a day when they won't be here and we will be grateful for the lessons they taught us.
The year Maria died I found myself in such a deep depression that that it seemed that nothing could get me out of it. Sure we went to church, but I derived little joy hearing others sing the praise songs. While they had smiles on their faces I was crying underneath. Nothing prepared me for this loss. After all, our daughter went in for what was suppose to be routine Orthopedic surgery which was designed to give her increased mobility, but little did we realize that the very pain medication she was on caused such a significant respiratory depression as to cause her to die in her sleep.
One day we were at Northwestern book store and saw a preview of the Nooma DVD's by Rob Bell. I saw one about grief and loss and it reminded me once again that I was not alone when it came to dealing with grief. Sometimes people just need to know that the intense feelings they are having for their loved one are not abnormal.
I saw that my son had a Nooma episode entitled 'whirlwind' on the desk top. When I watched it I saw that Rob Bell was telling the story of Job who you know lost his wealth and his family, but Job refused to curse God like his wife urge him to do. I was angry at God at the time of looking at the preview of the Nooma videos. I could not understand why if we have such a good God that he would take our little girl. As I read the story of Job I saw a man who refused to curse God because of his own tragedy. Instead he hung onto his faith and honored God. God saw how much love Job had for him that in the end he restored Job's life.
I learned that as we move through the grief it is important to lean on God and trust him that He knows what he is doing. In the end God will restore us and use us in very tangible ways to help others. I encourage you to double click to watch this video,
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