Sharon

I was stunned and saddened to learn that my friend Lindsay's mother, Sharon Hainzinger, passed away last week.  My heart is heavy for Lindsay and her family.  I knew and loved Sharon, (or I know and love her - she's absolutely alive in Heaven today).  She was feisty and fun, and she loved her family deeply.  She went out of her way to be kind and encouraging to me - she valued me and believed I was special, and I believe the same about her.  I deeply admire her faith, which was tested and held strong through cancer and through the loss of her precious granddaughter.  She helped to instill the same faith and compassion in her daughter, Lindsay, who lives with a formidable strength of spirit and a firm belief in God's redemptive power.  ...I have started typing around 20 different sentences and then deleted them as I write this post - it is fresh and sacred, and less is more at this point.  This is a huge, life-altering loss, and even when you grieve with hope in Christ, the pain of grief is real and intense and something we are not meant to bear alone - please pray for God's grace and comforting presence for their family!

Sharon Jean Hainzinger, 1955 - 2022

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On the topic of grief, this particular metaphor is new to me, but it makes so much sense:

"We don’t think much about our blood until something breaks the flesh, and we realize just how close we are to it all. Sometimes it takes so little to bring it rushing to the surface, and then the challenge is to stop it before it does too much damage. Grief is this way. It’s hidden, just there beneath the visible stuff of life... There is no rhyme or reason to things that reopen the wounds for any of us. There is no sense to Grief. It simply comes when it chooses, and it makes you bleed.  Over time, you learn to accept that the stuff beneath the surface just isn’t going away… ever. You may develop thicker skin, or you may be less apt to break as often as before, but the flood is still there below; of sweet memories, and wasted words, and missed opportunities, and lost tomorrows.  I think walking through this valley for the past 10 months has helped me realize just how much is happening right below the surface for all of us... Look around for those in your path who may be walking wounded, and who simply aren’t showing it."  ~John Pavlovitz

Poignant... I so appreciate his writings on grief.  He says the best things you can say to someone dealing with fresh grief are, "I love you" and "I'm sorry you have to walk this road." ❤

"Though He brings grief, He will also show compassion according to the abundance of His faithful love.  For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind."  ~Lamentations 3:32-33

May the God of all comfort comfort you in all your troubles.