As Sure as the Sun Will Rise: In the Midst of Loss Remember This Too Shall Pass

... weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b NIV

Loss and disappointment will come into our lives and unless we completely close ourselves off with denial or distractions healthy or otherwise we will experience the pain and grief that comes with them.

Dictionary.com defines grief as a keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret.

This definition implies grief takes place in the mind, but I know those who suffer loss experience it as a physical pain often in the heart. We can carry it around like a weight. It can be all encompassing as we experience wave after wave of sorrow that seems to want to overtake us.

My problem is I do not want to own my own pain, face the loss that is pressing on me. For me there is always a temptation to try to move on without processing my own grief. I think I can cheat sorrow. That is like trying to cheat death; sorrow comes like an unwanted guest.

Grief takes time; a season or many seasons until it is complete, until it has finished its work.

Psalm 30:5b tells us that although grief will come, it will pass as surely as the sun will rise each morning. We will see the morning. One day we will wake up and see our pain is less, our depression is lifting. We will notice the small beautiful things like the drops of rain hanging from the branches of the mulberry bush outside my window. This too shall pass.

We have been experiencing storm after storm here in Texas and across the mid-states. Each night as the clouds gather, the lightening proudly calls us is to attention and I wonder what will happen next? Will we have wind, rain, hail, tornados, flooding, destruction and death? With each passing day we seem to have another storm before we can recover from the last.

A year ago last year a young man named Colson died in his home during a tornado in Anna Texas. Each storm that passes through reminds his family and friends of the loss.

A garden has been planted in a spot near where his family's home once stood. Families who have lost loved ones through similar circumstances have planted trees within the garden in honor of their loved ones. These acts of love, remembrance and healing can only be done because there is hope for tomorrow that the grief will pass and life will be full again. Colson's garden grows in Anna and is a beautiful reminder that life will be renewed even as loved ones are grieved and remembered.