Nobody finds it easy to continue on after the death of a close friend, sister, brother, parent, spouse or child. Each brings its own hurt and agony and difficulty in learning how to deal with death. The power of the loss will change incredibly. My feelings after the loss of a best friend were quite different from the loss of my elders and those losses were noticeably different than the death of my wife.
I was with my number one friend just a couple of hours before he died. I can recollect him pulling at the sheets and being really agitated. I sat beside him and held him for a considerable time while trying to provide comfort to my close friend and companionship to his spouse. It was troublesome for her to witness her man fighting and to understand the end was near.
Sitting and staying with my mother in the hospital during her last 5 days and nights was quite a different experience. I recall looking at her numerous times to determine if she was still breathing. She was ready to go home to heaven; and that helped everyone who adored her. However, watching your mother struggle to breathe during her last hours is rarely easy.
My pop, a fabulous 86 year old man who had lived a full life, died 6 years after with lung complications. He was also quite ready to go to Heaven. He had missed my mom extraordinarily over those last 6 years. I wished I had known then what I know today. We furnished him a good life but I failed to realize the hurt he was going thru. The night he died, I was alone with him for the last four hours of his life. I held him in my arms during those last hours, just he and I. I was able to say to him what an awesome pop he'd been and how much I loved him. What a privilege to get to hold him and to hear the death rattle. It became so sweet because I knew where he was headed, to see his Jesus and to see the old lady.
I grew through these experiences yet, they did not prepare me for the biggest loss of my life. My prior better half of TWENTY-SEVEN years was identified with stage 4 cancer. Ten weeks later she also went home, just like my friend, my mom and my pop. This experience, not like the others, rocked me to my core. It's a story all its own. Some moments I could grin, but at times the grief was all consuming. I would feel trapped in a box; respiring, merely surviving was all I could manage. It was as if I could only take one step at a time. It was in this experience that God started to mold, form, and change me beyond anything I may have imagined. He was preparing me to accomplish His work thru my life.
I encourage you to use our complimentary gift, "God's Answer?" It will demonstrate to you a power to not only live life, but also a power to change your life, beyond your wildest imagination.
I was with my number one friend just a couple of hours before he died. I can recollect him pulling at the sheets and being really agitated. I sat beside him and held him for a considerable time while trying to provide comfort to my close friend and companionship to his spouse. It was troublesome for her to witness her man fighting and to understand the end was near.
Sitting and staying with my mother in the hospital during her last 5 days and nights was quite a different experience. I recall looking at her numerous times to determine if she was still breathing. She was ready to go home to heaven; and that helped everyone who adored her. However, watching your mother struggle to breathe during her last hours is rarely easy.
My pop, a fabulous 86 year old man who had lived a full life, died 6 years after with lung complications. He was also quite ready to go to Heaven. He had missed my mom extraordinarily over those last 6 years. I wished I had known then what I know today. We furnished him a good life but I failed to realize the hurt he was going thru. The night he died, I was alone with him for the last four hours of his life. I held him in my arms during those last hours, just he and I. I was able to say to him what an awesome pop he'd been and how much I loved him. What a privilege to get to hold him and to hear the death rattle. It became so sweet because I knew where he was headed, to see his Jesus and to see the old lady.
I grew through these experiences yet, they did not prepare me for the biggest loss of my life. My prior better half of TWENTY-SEVEN years was identified with stage 4 cancer. Ten weeks later she also went home, just like my friend, my mom and my pop. This experience, not like the others, rocked me to my core. It's a story all its own. Some moments I could grin, but at times the grief was all consuming. I would feel trapped in a box; respiring, merely surviving was all I could manage. It was as if I could only take one step at a time. It was in this experience that God started to mold, form, and change me beyond anything I may have imagined. He was preparing me to accomplish His work thru my life.
I encourage you to use our complimentary gift, "God's Answer?" It will demonstrate to you a power to not only live life, but also a power to change your life, beyond your wildest imagination.
About the Author:
Burton Rager author of "Living Life Set Free" and "God's Answer?" Click to learn how to deal with death and receive a complimentary copy of "God's Answer?"
