Meet Me In The Middle Of Your Story

“I once read that if a person has a part of their liver removed, it will grow back..regenerate itself.

I also know from personal experience that after a person loses their spouse, a portion of their heart gets buried in the casket or urn with them.  But much like the liver, the widow(er)'s heart can also grow back....regenerate itself.  It doesn't do it overnight....and it is often a painful regeneration growing process.

But given time, the heart WILL mend itself.

A few months ago, I met a widower who lost his cherished wife a few years ago.  A portion of his heart had also been buried in that urn with hers much like mine had been with Chuck's.  We shared the mutual experience of care-giving, watching someone you love fade and then the eventual death of a spouse.  It's a road no one can speak of or understand unless they've walked it.

And in our conversations on death, we discovered something interesting:   

 Our spouses died on the same day, same year, 4 hours apart.

Enter a quiet "Pause" in the conversation.

We became friends, talking regularly, sharing our hearts that were still in the regeneration process of healing.  We discovered that God was the most important thing in each of our lives.....and He had put both of us on the road to healing at the exact same moment.

And we discovered we were put on this road next to each other for a reason.

My time with Wayne has helped my heart heal and grow once again and I believe his has too.  We are now dating and taking our time to see where this might lead.  It's an interesting journey we are on....how our paths crossed....how our two hearts are now regenerating together....and how the parts of our hearts still in the urns with our spouses are still beating as strong for them as ever.  That will never die.  But the one thing we both know is that God smiled down on us, gave a wink, and is walking next to us as we journey on down this beautiful road of unknowns.  We are meeting in the middle of our stories....when our souls are worn....but wise.

Happy Birthday Wayne......you are so loved.”

Brokenness & Backpacks

 

I once had a dear friend who always sat on the front row, right-side-aisle most every Sunday at our church. She always sat alone and, its pure speculation on my part, but I think she sat on that front row to avoid the distractions that come from sitting anywhere else (plus, it put her close to the side door where she could make a quick exit when church was over).

It's been a few years now since Diane gave me this cross made out of rusty metal.....old nails really.....that has hung on the side of my hutch in the dining room. The day she handed it to me, she was smiling big. She was so proud to give it to me....thought I needed it.....and rushed it over to my house, complete with pretty paper in a bag and ribbon surrounding it. We had just finished a home study on Eucharisteo.....the act of giving Thanks.....thanks for everything.....even the massively broken things in our lives.....and Diane had a lot of broken things in her life.

She passed away a few summers later.....unexpectedly.....and silently. I pray she knew Jesus was climbing that broken mountain with her and that He carried a backpack with her name on it to put all the broken pieces from her life into.

I wish I had been a better friend and helped her transfer those broken pieces from Her back to His.

I wish......

But my wish for you, my friend, is to know the whole purpose of the empty cross is so you no longer have to carry the sharp, cutting broken pieces of your life anymore. If you just call out to Him...."Come quick, Lord, I need You"....He'll carry the burden & weight of your broken pieces in that specially made & personalized backpack with your name on it.

Because He loves you.