Sunday, May 23, 2010

Loss and Transition

My neighbor Linda died last night. I found out today by way of Stephen. I don't have any details about her final hours, but I do wonder if she passed away at the very moment the Lord brought her strongly into my mind again. I remember distinctly hearing the word "transition" in my spirit around 9:30 as I got ready to go to bed early last night. Her face and her family came into my mind. I prayed that Linda was being taken gently by God's hand as she transitioned from this temporary home to her permanent one. I prayed the boys and Jeff would release her from her struggle as the dying process increased their sorrow.

I pray now as they transition from being a four-member family with a very sick wife and mother, to a three-member family without her.

I pray for myself as I deal with the guilt of being a bad neighbor--or at least aloof as I lived my life a half block down the street. Perhaps God is calling me to transition to being a better neighbor, more "in the loop" and caring in practical ways.

Dear Father, thank You for Linda and the brief life she lived on this earth. Thank You for the way she made my sons feel welcome at her home. Thank You for giving her the joy of motherhood. I know she loved her sons. She doted on them, she talked about them, she spent a lot of time with them. Give them peace and comfort, Father, as they transition from boyhood to manhood, from school to career, without the hands-on love of their mother. Comfort Jeff as he transitions from being a husband to being a widower. He's so young, God. Strengthen him in his grief. I thank You for all the times You've shepherded them already as they've experienced the loss of this special woman over the course of time--first her energy, then her health, then her presence at home, and now, her life.

Oh, God, I cannot stop my tears from flowing.

2 comments:

Vicki said...

I am so sorry Zo for your loss. I am grateful though that the Lord had her heavy on your heart. I have had that happen before too right before someone passes. I feel very close to my true home at times like that, like I am just in the back yard. We are all closer to home than we think...

Praying for you.

Laurie said...

Transition, it seems, is where we live. It also seems that as soon as we fit into the most current transition, we are called to get fit for another one! Never stagnant. Always being tested and called to trust.

I'm praying for the loss, heartache and transitions for your dear neighbor's family and for the way God is using this in your spiritual growth.

It's probably odd, but I'm so thankful for tears and for this truth:

"Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone."