Dance With Jesus Through the Seasons of Loss

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 – To every [thing there is] a season, and a time

to every purpose under the heaven…

 

I wrote my reflective essay on parenting through the seasons that appears on Susan Mead’s website  and on my blog post today as I read her book: Dance wth Jesus From Grief to Grace. I know my hope is selfishness that I never face her terrible loss. She writes about losing her youngest son with such poignancy. Her book is a devotional for those who are grieving, but I found so much with which I could identify. I look at my daughter who is barely become an adult. I can’t imagine the grief and loss and the utter blackness that would fill my life if I lost her.

The fact is I believe a parent should never have to bury a child. It is not the natural order. We are older, and therefore should die first. In fact, my first real experience with grief was when I lost my father. My life seemed to stop that day when I received the call at work from my aunt that my mom had found him dead. I still see my brother’s raw grief as he fell to the ground, pounding the grass in anger because he did not go to check on my father. He was busy and could not get away when my mom called. We learned later that he died instantly of a heart attack; so if my brother had gone right over there would have been nothing he could have done to save him. I can still hear the anguished cries as I held my mom in my arms, and her tears soaked the front of my blouse.

I watched as his body was taken out of their home  and loaded into an ambulance. I sat down in my dad’s chair and looked at his stack of Bibles. A retired associate pastor and evangelist, he spent his days, studying his bibles. He had five translations in the house. Four in the living room and another King James Bible in his bedroom.

I opened the first Bible to his bookmark: 2 Corinthians 5: 1-8 were underlined on the page:

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:  8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Curious, I opened the next translation. Also bookmarked to 2 Corinthians 5, with versus 1 through 8 underlined. I found every Bible in my dad’s house, and they were all bookmarked to the same chapter with the same versus underlined.

His Living Bible translated the same versus this way:

1-2 For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands. ² How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies that we shall put on like new clothes. …  

⁶ Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. ⁷ We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing. ⁸ And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

The pastor with whom my father served under and loved also found joy when I told him about how my father had marked all of his Bibles in the house to the same chapter and verses.  When he preached my father’s funeral, he told us my father had prepared his own funeral sermon. In his last hours, he wanted his family and friends to know how joyful he felt that he was going home to be with Jesus.

Even knowing this this, the weeks turned stark and lonely following the funeral. My world seemed gray and my grief ran deep.  I could not loose myself, however. I had to honor my father’s joy.  I found myself wondering how I was going to find my way through. I heard a simple answer from the Lord,   “You must recover. You may have to dig deep and find the spirit and the will, but start digging.” We, women, are mothers, sisters, and daughters. We all have others who will be look to us for support in this season. Remember our loved one impacted so many other people. We all need each other when grieving. It is a huge circle of love.

This is why I love Susan’s book and recommend it to anyone who is going through this dark season in life,  facing the loss of a loved one.  Her book is divided into word-illustrated vignettes that begin with the Word of God, a verse that ties into the story she is telling. Then at the end of each chapter are reflective questions to pray over and reflect upon.

The whole book is a quick read: only 107 pages. As Susan writes: “It is a quick read for the grief-stricken individual, as grief can shorten the attention span.” Don’t let the shortness of the book lead you wrong.  Each chapter is filled with depth of feeling and realism.  You will also find laughter and joy in this book. I know it sounds odd, but laughter and joy is a resource to those who are grieving.

Additionally, what really inspires me is Susan’s desire to help others by using her book as a vehicle to highlight a special cause: Water for Life. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of this book, Dance With Jesus: From Grief to Grace, will benefit Water for Life to help dig water wells in remote, forgotten places for remote, forgotten people. So if you purchase this book, you will laugh, cry, and find solace and peace while helping others.

You can go here to learn more about Susan Mead and her great book or you can purchase it using my affiliate link below. Additionally, once you receive your book you can post a picture of the cover on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook for the chance to win $100.  Just tag it #DanceWithJesusBook @SusanBMead.  The winner will be announced by Susan on her Dance with Jesus website on August 31 and have 48 hours to respond.

I am also pleased to announce that I am giving a way a copy of this book. I hope you win!  Just complete the giveway entries below:

 

 

 

Note: I received two copies of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I am giving one of these copies away. 🙂 I do not give negative reviews on my blog. If I don’t like a book,  I will not waste my readers’ time with a negative review.  I am very selective of the books I review. I only request copies of books that I really think are going to be life changing and excellent! If you use my affiliate link in this post, I will receive a very small percentage of the sale which I will use toward my blogging expenses. Thanks for your support!

 

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