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This is not my first “trip down this road.” Most of you know that my first wife, Carol, died of cancer 12 years ago. I never ever thought I would face this once, let alone twice.
We are “marked” by these types of painful experiences. I grew up in a home where only three of the five children made it to their 20th birthday. My older sister Janie died of pneumonia at 11 months old, and my 19 year old brother Bob died in a plane crash. So I grew up with an awareness that life was quite fragile. (And more recently – my mother and brother-in-law passed away a year and a half ago, so we are rather familiar with end-of-life issues.)
Many of you have faced the loss of a parent, sibling, spouse or child. You have walked this “pathway.” You know how hard it is. If you have not yet experienced this, you someday will. I don’t say that to be morbid. I state reality. All of us will eventually “cross over.” This includes your loved ones.
How do we make life work after the loss of a loved one?
Some people amaze me. When they lose a loved one, they are somehow able to remain vibrant and so remarkably full of faith. I admire them.
However, I am not quite that strong. I tend to grieve deeply.
Yet, (Job 19), “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
I also know that because Jesus lives (after his death on a cross), my daughter Janie too lives, as promised in John 14:19. This is not some nice trite platitude. This is fact.
However, it takes a while for our deeply wounded emotions to grab hold of those wonderful truths.
Let’s talk about it, tomorrow night, on the World Prayer Network.
I love you all. See you tomorrow night on Sunday.
Grieving, but looking towards eternity.
Jim Garlow
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