When Life and Death Happens

 

**Authors Note: The hope for this blog post is to provide encouragement in dealing with death and loss.**

Over the past eight months life has happened. Now of course it has happened to all of us. For me personally it has happened in ways that I couldn’t explain in a blog post but in all reality its been a challenging time.

Six months ago, my dad, David Morgan passed away. He had been sick for quite sometime and the Lord called him home this past February. Since that time I have had much time to reflect and sort out the feelings of loss and grief. Now, I know that I am not the first person to lose a parent or someone close, however for me, losing my dad has effected me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.

Right after my dad died I returned to my job as an Assistant Pastor and had quite a bit on my plate. I am also attempting to finish a degree I have been working on for the last few years. What I was quickly finding out was that life goes on. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for the outpouring of love and support from my family, my friends and my church, however life goes on.

I think for people dealing with loss, this reality is what is hardest to wrap your mind around. The world seems to stop for a few days as we handle the details of losing a loved one, however everything around us did not stop. The hard part is jumping back in.  Once you lose someone, you’re not the same. I see this in my mom.  It seems like the biggest struggle I see her having is that she is not the same. She is no longer a wife, no longer a helpmate, no longer married and the list goes on and on.

Here is the basic reality; Life happens and death happens. This is tough but also good news. It is good news that we have other people to love and influence and many other things to do.  It is good news that God doesn’t leave us in a constant state of mourning and isolation.  The good news is God has more.  He has more memories for us to make, he has more people for us to love, He has more ministry for us to do. We definitely are never the same after a loss, however we are not less capable of loving, we are not less capable of living we are just different from before. He has a life for us to live.  Death and pain and loss and sorrow are real…..all too real for me recently.  However life is real too.  I still am on the journey of healing and wrapping my mind around not having a Dad around anymore….but thank God life is still moving around me.

I pray as you or someone you know is dealing with death, you give yourself and others the space you need to work through the loss and the grief, but don’t ever stay there.  My mom and my sister and myself are all at a loss and we are not the same. We are not the same but we are not broken. We are just in a new normal. There is so much life to live so much to enjoy and so much to accomplish.  Dad, we miss you terribly, but we keep moving forward because we know God has people for us to love, family to take care of and many others to encourage!  We are confident we will see dad again, for now we have to live!

May grace and peace and healing be ever-present in all our lives.

Talk Soon

Pastor Darrell