In Love and Loss, Sorrow and Joy
In Christ,
March 18, 2019
Drawn to the light: seeking joy amid sorrow
Posted by ShariCakes under Lent, Life, Religion & Faith | Tags: #Evergreen, Audrey Assad, Life, music, pregnancy loss, sorrow, truth |Leave a Comment
March 17, 2019
The Broken Way: Lent 2019
Posted by ShariCakes under Life, Religion & Faith, Sunday Sentiments | Tags: Ann Voskamp, family, Lent, life changing events, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, sorrow, The Broken Way |Leave a Comment
Lent – from the Middle English – Lente or springtime. The time between Ash Wednesday and Easter – associated with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The purpose? To turn away from those things that keep us from Christ, fast and pray come closer to the broken Christ. BE broken as he was broken and give through your brokenness, the abundance that you receive.
How fitting that I should come to finally read through The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp, as I had a hard time trying to decide what to “give up” for Lent.
See I love the power and peace of prayer, fasting is second nature to intuitive eating or moderation and giving is a lifestyle – maybe it comes easier for some. Do little things with great love. St Therese of Lisieux.
However, less than two weeks before Ash Wednesday I received the news that my second pregnancy was not viable – I had lost my twins – my second miscarriage in nine months. What do you give up when it seems like you’ve already lost so much? What can I give to others when it seems that I need so much care and attention? How in the world am I going to get through these forty days? How can I look forward to Eastertide when I am in so much sorrow? Last year it was so easy – I found out I was pregnant right after Easter 2018 – what a great start to the spring season. And yet less than 10 weeks later sadness crept in as the news settled upon me…the pregnancy wasn’t going to be successful.
I have no answers. All I know is that my heart is broken in pieces, I am broken…in mourning…HOW? How do you grieve the life of little ones you’ve never met, held or felt? How do I give my brokenness away? Who wants it? I feel like a dark cloud, a plague…a bad luck charm. I want to rise above this suffering….but I can’t. Not yet. Not until….I don’t know when.
….I don’t know when my heart will beat again, feel again, be full again and give again. I must walk this road of loss and suffering again but I don’t want to…I don’t want to.
In Love and Loss, Sorrow and Joy,
Always, In Christ.
Shari
September 12, 2010
Sunday Sentiments: Hope and Encouragement
Posted by ShariCakes under Life, Religion & Faith, Sunday Sentiments | Tags: (in)courage, encouragment, faith, grief, hope, love, patience, peace, sorrow |1 Comment
My flowered card box is full...
For years, I have had this card box. It has fancy stationary in it, birthday cards, sympathy cards, note paper, thank you cards and even a few mass cards. I have always wanted to challenge myself in the ways of writing. I was blessed with the gift of gab so writing a few lines here and there is still a challenge for me. Often times I fail to find the right words in stressful and sorrowful times. This is one of those times.
I hear the words echoing …And who knows but that you have come…for such a time as this? Esther 4:14
I have been called to the challenge of bringing hope and encouragement to those around me? What. In such a time as this? How? How can I? I am still feeling the effects of this past year without my job, the past summer has come and gone, I miss my beloved Steven dearly, fear has me crippled as my father recovers from open heart surgery and today – as this rainy Sunday begins it is National Day of Encouragement – I must begin the journey back to Scranton with my mother for the funeral services for my Uncle Bob, who recently passed. It is in this dark time that I must be the hope and encouragement to those around me…. for such a time as this.
Oh boy, I never expected this to be a challenge. As I received and read through the 2011 Hope and Encouragement Card Pack from (In)Courage, I found myself being prepared and made stronger for these events. I still have butterflies in my stomach, I still fail at the right words at the right times, but I still pray for the Father’s guidance. I need it, those around me need it…they need me to double-check myself because I surely do not own the right words to say. I pray that God will give me the time and the place to share His grace and peace…in such times as this.
... and filled to the brim, with hope, love, sorrow and peace.
I have already begun to share my thanks and my prayers of hope and encouragement with those closest to me. Even in a time when I feel truly tested and stressed, I know that there is hope and peace. The pain comes and goes, the sorrow shows it’s face, I fall to my knees and weep and the Lord hears my cries. He always picks me up and I know that….
“…Jesus is closer than we ever realized and we’re loved more than we ever knew.”
Shari's Sentiments 