In the Morning!

In the Morning! 

Tears flowing in the morning.  I just received a call that our Missy passed away!  She was a little mini dash-hound, she was black and very loving.  We had to give her to another family when we moved the last time because we were only allowed to have one dog, even though both dogs together didn't weight over 20 pounds.  I was angry about that for a long time.  How could a bunch of old people (an association) come up with the rule you could only have one dog?.....I say that because I am old too; but I have a much more open mind when it comes to animals.  They called us to let us know that she had passed.  I was so thankful that the family we gave her to loved her as much as we did.  They thanked us for giving her to them.   It still doesn't make it easy.  She had been heavy on my mind lately.  It has been two years since we gave her away as a gift to another family.  I grieved then too.  

  How do you get pass the grief?  When does grief turn to JOY! 

Is it because your hurt can be healing to another?   The greater the hurt, the greater the healing?  It makes me think of a friend who gave up her child to another so she (her daughter) would have a life she was unable to give her.   What a tremendous gift, what a strong and loving heart to be able to give something you love with all your heart to another!  It was a gift that brought tremendous JOY to those who received!  It was two fold, a child given to a couple who couldn't have children and the child given an education and experiences that her own mother was unable to give.  A true act of LOVE and SACRIFICE!  Acts such as this deserve a crown in glory! 

I think this mother really knows the heart of God.  How much it took for the God of this Universe to give his only son, that we might live!  A God with a soul filled with grief!  Some gifts can not be measured in value because they are too great, they are priceless!  They touch so many lives with JOY!  

I follow the website of "www.aholyexperience.com" - Ann Voskamp, is the author of this site and a christian.  She talks about eucharisteo- giving thanks, and how it always precedes the miracle.  She shares her life experience.  What a tremendous writer she is!  She uses a gift given to her, an expression of words that perhaps heal those that read it.  A a kindred spirit.  Her testimony is one of grief; but out of the grief comes JOY!  If we live for very long, we all experience grief...Grief is an internal emotional response to loss. It has several components: physical, behavioral, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual. It is often described by those that have gone through it as a heaviness that isn’t easily lifted. It can sometimes be so pronounced that it affects a person’s physical self and can even mimic illnesses.. grief isn't only experienced through losing someone you love, it is also felt when losing anything, such as your home, your job, your pet, your health, your joy ....it's the experience of loss......how do you handle your grief?

By giving, by giving thanks....it leads to JOY!  

A savior hanging on the cross, with blood stained hands, and a pierced side.  Out of the ugly and painful comes beauty, comes thankfulness, comes joy in the morning!  Because in the morning the soul has transcended, it is born again.  Out of the grief of giving comes the gift of living!  Yes, it doesn't always seem like a gift; but oh how it is.  To be able to have a soul, to experience, whatever it is that you are experiencing today!  A soul where the price has been paid.  A ticket to Heaven, not free; but paid by another. 

"For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that he lives, he lives to God"  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

 Romans 6:10

Continue to fight the GOOD fight....the fight of thankfulness; because out of an hour of thankfulness come a day of JOY!