Tag: loss

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Memoir

Loss

Loss. 

The memory comes back. Distinct. Clear. From 1972. One hot, humid afternoon in Kediri, Indonesia.

I’m just arriving at our home. After being away for high school a couple of months. In Jakarta.  

Standing outside. Reaching for the handle of the screen door. And suddenly a subconscious map surfaces.  One I never knew was there. 

A map of presence. Home and those who belong in it. 

Without warning, the realization of deep loss hits. Full force. There’s an empty space on that map. 

The place where my sister Ann has always been.

Grief. Tangible. 

Me with Momma and my new baby sister, Ann. Bangkok, Thailand. 1961.
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Crossing Cultures Devotional Memoir

Dare to hope

Nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing. 

Death begs to differ. Disease and pain try to write a different story. The troubles in this world whisper hopelessness. 

Loss. Division. Fracture. All attempting to question or deny His love, compassion, and care.  

And yet. We dare to hope. Because of our Savior. 

He writes the true story. 

Grave and hope. Image by Gabor Bejo on pixabay.
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Categories
Devotional Memoir

Coming through the night

Motionless. I sit. In sunlight. Stilled by loss and grief spilling across screens and down streets. Through personal stories of friends and strangers. Hard and sad.

Bitter wounds. Raw pain rooted deep. Laid bare.

Motionless. I wait. Stilled by the scale of it. What are we to do? Hands rest, palms up.
Eyes lifted to open sky between tall trees.
Wordless cry to the One I trust. 

Eyes lifted to open sky.
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