Do you have any moments in your memory that you are sure you will never forget?
I have one etched in my memory and heart and have been thinking a lot about it lately.
It was December 23, 2012. I had just finished opening gifts at the Bos household and there was lightness in the air.
Suzi was showing me a print she had gotten for my brother Len for Christmas. It was a purposeful selection and we were talking about how meaningful it would be for him in the coming year…
As we each held a corner, my phone rang, and I will always remember the voice on the other end, my sister-in-law, in a barely audible voice, he left us, he is gone, forever gone.
Although one might think it is the call i am referring to here, it isn’t. For me, the unforgettable moment was how put your hope in God went from a gift for Len to an invitation in my own heart and soul. Little did we know that the message creatively displayed was not one for Len at all, but for each of us in the days, weeks, months and years to follow that night on December 23, 2012.
We used this print as the front of Len’s memorial program…
Suzi gifted us each with one and it hangs in my room where i see it every day…
It is a reminder to me to entrust my life and put my hope in God. It sounds simple in some way. I find it to be a powerful invitation that I struggle to implement at times.
Since Len died we have met many who grieve great losses of their own. We knew of this before but we feel it differently with others now.
My cousin and his wife buried their second born son after a tragic accident….
My very dear friend has the funeral for her brother-in-law tomorrow morning…
My aunt is struggling to heal following surgery and find clarity in her thoughts in a rehab hospital…
Grief comes in so many different ways…
Put your hope in God….
I am thankful for this message, even in the most difficult moments.
I am thankful for the invitation to not walk the grief journey alone.
I trust that God knew just what I would need in that moment. A tangible reminder that he is with me when my heart feels heavy, lonely, aching or sad…
I hope you too will embrace the invitation to Put your Hope in God.
Thank you Suzi for choosing a gift that has been our lighthouse in the storm.
