Good morning…
“Dear Sue,” she wrote after yesterday’s post, A Special Kind Of Grief. “Today’s post is so powerful and important. Thank you for sharing these words from the mother who is grieving the loss of her son from overdose. She is so honest and raw and true. So many of us have family and close friends that struggle from drug or alcohol addictions or from eating disorders or other socially challenged diseases. No one is perfect and everyone struggles. And, we never know what will happen to challenge each of us. The truth of this woman’s words should speak to us all for greater love and understanding and compassion for one another.”
“Sue, today’s post is so good,” wrote another who has gathered rich gifts from her own years of great grief. “I will share it with some who need to hear the words.”
“Sue, WOW!! What a post today!!” wrote another mom who lost her dear daughter to cancer. “Thank you for sharing some very helpful information that gives insight into a topic that is so misunderstood in our community and world. Suicide falls under the same category. The pain does not stop and they just want the hurt to go away. Mental and substance abuse are illnesses that are so devastating but are perceived as shameful. I received the video below from another daily devotional yesterday. It is a voice over of Psalm 46. Psalm 46:1 is my favorite verse. I love the black and white videos of destruction contrasting with the colorful video of the woman in nature in communion with God. Enjoy!!” www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjRstrD6oE
“Sue,” responded another friend who is in the midst of her own special kind of grief. “All of your posts are meaningful to me, but wanted to thank you especially for today’s blog. It inspired me to call a college friend in Virginia. Her daughter died of an overdose about 6 weeks ago. I have been sending cards once a week, but I think she really appreciated the call and chance to talk about what she and her family are going through. Thanks be to God for his timing and messages through you.❤️”
“Hi Sue, I read your blog today,” wrote another sensitive soul whose dad died this year. “This is powerful material! How do you get another thing done in the day after producing these? What a ministry you have! Just this week, an older favorite friend from my church has evidently lost an adult daughter and I don’t yet know the cause…it may be substance abuse or a tragedy or suicide… But when I do see her, these recommendations for how to support someone in her position will be so helpful. Many thanks!”
Then at 3:03 am today, an email found her way to me from a mom I may never meet. Carving me down deep, God grew into the space between us.
“My dear friend passed this letter to me and I do deeply appreciate it!!” she so bravely wrote after receiving yesterday’s post. “I lost my only son on September 14, 2017 and my life has changed forever!! We tried everything and anything but the addiction took him from us!! I also thought we had survived after almost four years being clean and sober, but I now see that it is bigger and more deadly than anything! My son my funny, had many friends, was educated but that wasn’t enough!! We are so broken and miss him everyday!! I found him on the floor and could not revive him!! I will have that picture in my mind forever—such a beautiful person and gone forever—he was 35 and suffered over 10 years with this awful disease. I have found myself wanting to be alone and grieve in silence. Unless you have been through this nightmare it is hard to explain! Friends have told me to move on and live your life but that is not an easy thing to do! I know that he is at peace and his pain is over but my pain will never be over. My heart breaks for others that have been touched by this illness. It is an epidemic and I am trying to be strong for my daughter who is devastated losing her brother. I never pictured myself visiting a cemetery to be close to my son but that is my life now! Thank you for understanding the heartbreak and total devastation!!”
“Your words are so raw, real, and beautiful,” I emailed her back. “Your expression of truth, so touching, so tender. Many, many have responded to our post from yesterday. I will anonymously include your gorgeous description of your life-altering loss along with other heartfelt expressions I have received over the past 24 hours. It is so important for us to invite others into the rich gift of shared sorrow. When we love boldly then we lose abruptly, a sacred space is scraped out in us, a private place where we can talk, cry, and rage with the God who sees, comforts, and mends our broken hearts slowly, gradually, over pain-staking time. Though your eyes may never meet mine, our souls are connected, and I will keep your name on my lips as I lift up my constant prayers, asking God to come close, to cultivate peace, to become increasingly more real to you, a Light in your darkness, a Guide forward into a fertile future, where earth and heaven are intimately intertwined, moment by moment, day after day. Do you feel your son’s presence with you in palpable ways throughout your days? If so, please teach me about this, Sue.”
Here is a promise from God to which I cling: “For I will [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I will replenish every languishing and sorrowful person” (Jeremiah 31:25, AMPC).
…Sue…
