The Blessed Mourner.

                                                      

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4

"Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones." Isaiah 49:13

These verses are a great help to me, especially lately. My great-grandma passed away on the 13th. She was my fifth relative to pass in the month of January over the years.


My Granny was a special lady. I am so blessed to have had as much time with her as I did. Lately, all of my memories of Granny have come flooding back, and it's a sort of collage of memories and images in my head. When I close my eyes I see things like playing Racko, or eating applesauce, or my frustrated face as she taught me how to crochet. I see her fingers flying as she created an afghan for one of her 40+ descendents. I see things like my white knuckles against the dashboard as I hung on for dear life while she took a 90 degree turn at 70+ miles an hour.

 I hear things, too. I hear the fond memories in her voice when she talked about the good old days. I hear the little click-click-click her shoes made on the floor as she walked back and forth across the kitchen making dinner. I hear the confusion in her voice as she wondered out loud why the internet was such an integral part of our lives.

 All of these things-yes, even the white knuckles on the dashboard- make me wish she was still here. But I know she's in a better place. Even so, I miss her.

 I miss her so much that everyday things are challenging. It's hard to focus, it's hard to sleep, and instead of facing my feelings I stuff my face with Oreos and hershey's kisses.

 "You're just grieving." People tell me all the time. "Give yourself some time."

 How much time? Whats the right way to grieve? I thought Christians were supposed to be happy all the time! We're not supposed to have negative feelings, right?

 Not quite. Even Jesus had emotions. He had sadness. "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) When a dear friend of his passed away, he wept.

 What does this tell us about grieving? Well, first of all, that Jesus doesn't  condemn us for grieving. He even says he will bless those who mourn, and he will comfort them.

 He also promises that for those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, death isn't the end. it's the beginning of a new chapter of our lives, the beginning of our eternal life spent in worship and praise.

 Death has not won. Life has triumphed again.

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 
(1 Corinthians 15:55)

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