Thank you so much Betty for writing.

I was feeling tremendously guilty just last night because I've not written to the group, said "hi," or anything for awhile.

 

There are so many wonderful saints of God that have visited here and still read who have went through deep hurts and loss. I guess part of my hope is that many are find some sense of

Betty <bchile@...> wrote:

Good Morning.....

Just wanted to post a hello to everyone and hope all are doing
well.   I know that there are so many stages to grief and the
upcoming Mother's Day holiday will hit many of us harder as our
mothers are no longer with us.   No matter what the relationship may
have been with your mother...a mother is a special bond in anyone's
life as she is the person God choose to bring you into this
world...and you need to remember that when we all get to heaven and
see our mother's there it will then be a perfect relationship of co-
heirs to Jesus.   I have been reading a book by Joni Eareckson
Tada..."Heaven...our real home" and I would highly recommend it to
anyone who is a Christian or who has lost a loved one or who wonders
of the unknown of heaven.   I'm one of those who garners peace from
reading Revelations in the bible because, to me, it isn't the
foretelling of the horrible to happen but the revealing of just who
Jesus and God are in our lives and in our eternity.   No book can
explain heaven because no human knows the details...only God....but
this one can bring it to a closer more personal feeling that the
hurts we feel now will no longer exist in any form for eternity.   I
especially liked the chapter where she talks of the crowns we will
lay at Jesus feet in heaven.   How many of you thought of an actual
crown of gold and jewels and brilliance?   This is the picture I
think we all get in our minds when we hear the stories from
childhood up.   But Joni reminded me in the book that the "crowns"
we are receiving are as Jesus told of in the bible...the crowns of
rightousness for those who have longed for the Lord's coming, the
crown of life for those who perservered under trials, the crown of
glory that will never fade away that we receive upon Jesus return,
and more....these are the crowns we will lay at our Father's
feet....we will be laying down the essence of who we are because of
Jesus's willingness to take the crown of thorns on the cross and die
for our sins.   I have to believe that, in the laying down of our
crowns of blessings Jesus gives us we will be,in essence, melding at
that moment in the perfect union with God and Jesus for whatever
tasks God has for us in the new heaven and new earth.   I grew up
thinking my "crown" would look like the one that I imagined Queen
Esther wearing...shining brightly...and after approaching the
thought as set out in Joni's book...it just makes it even more
special because I believe I will be wearing a "crown" like Queen
Esther...the crown she wore for being where she was when she
was "for such a time as this" and for saving the chosen people of
God by her actions and obedience to God.  

I know this is a long post and I don't know if I'm just posting it
to read it for myself and hear the words for me today or if someone
else needs to be reminded of the wonderous glory we have in the
family of God and that those christians in our earthly family that
have gone on before us won't be separated from us forever but we
will all spend eternity together giving our "crowns" to the light of
the world for eternity.

Hope all are doing well...it has been very quiet on this board
lately and I worry that there are those who are struggling in
silence.   You are all in my prayers even when I don't post(sorry
for that but my time this past month and continues to be taken up
with replacing a vehicle and a roof on my house due to a 25 minute
hail storm in April with hailstones 2-1/2-3inches in diameter....not
sure where all the funding will come from but am trusting God to
provide within the next 30 days what is needed to pay the contractor
for the house).  That being said...just because I am silent doesn't
mean you are not all in my heart and mind and prayers.

Be kind to yourself this weekend especially...remember that God
holds your hand each and every moment of every day so let Him walk
with you thru the times of sorrow as well as the times of joy.

Betty

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