"Mother's Day" by: Council Member Patrice Parker

"You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and it will be a difficult time this year for many in our Grace Harbor family.

After Robin Roberts completed her bone marrow transplant, while battling cancer for the 2nd time, she was interviewed and made a comment in that interview that has stayed with me.
“Life provides losses and heartbreak for all of us. But the greatest tragedy is to have the experience and miss the meaning.”

How can we find the meaning in that kind of devastating loss?

When my mother passed away just a few months ago I was able to be with her when she took her last breath and went to be at home with the Lord. It was a moment in my life of overwhelming grief and at the same time great joy because I knew deep down in my heart that she was with my sister and the Lord in heaven.

Loss of any loved one is difficult. Loss of a parent can be devastating no matter your age and no matter how expected or unexpected it was. A friend told me that grief is like the waves of an ocean. That analogy is perfect. Sometimes the grief is just lapping at your toes, gently tickling at them and you can turn your head, change your thought pattern and avoid the tears that are threatening. Sometimes the waves are a bit rougher; you need to dig into the sand a bit with your toes to stand your ground. Then there are those times when the waves are a giant tsunami coming at you, dragging you down and swallowing you whole, leaving you grabbing at the kleenex box and looking for a chair or something to hold on to.

In the midst of the waves you can try to ignore what is going on, be stubborn and dig in a bit farther, or just acknowledge that there will be difficult days, days that seem to go on forever, days that take every last bit of energy to get anything considered normal completed that day. You use up an entire box of Kleenex and just pray for the day to end.

My own personal experience with this has taught me something very important, something I would not have considered before I began to develop a relationship with the Lord. As difficult as it can be not understanding why that person has left you behind, I have found a measure of comfort in the fact that the Lord is in charge and that he has a plan. I may not always understand why something happened, in fact I rarely do, but I have faith in the fact that there is a reason for what has occurred. There is something here that I must experience and learn, whether I want to or not.

Faith is difficult at a time like this but nobody ever told me that living by faith would be easy. I believe that the Lord knows what he is doing.

Is there something that I need to learn from this experience? I am sure that there is. Will I figure that out today or tomorrow….probably not. Does it make it any easier right now, no it does not. But I continue to pray, ask for comfort and peace and know that the Lord loves me and he has a plan. Someday I hope to personally be able to thank him for my life, for every tear, every bit of laughter, every joy and every sorrow. The reality is that we would not recognize joy without knowing loss, or know love without experiencing grief.

I read somewhere that our hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of our life. If we keep faith it will all be worth it in the end.

Your sister in Christ,
Patrice

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