In the Midst of It All There is JOY

The process of grief is not from point A to point B process. When we experience a life changing transition in our lives; transition of a loved one, job, relationships, or a pet, there is a diverseness of expression we can experience from sadness, anger, guilt despair, helplessness, confusion, shock, and denial. It is our mind, body and soul that reacts in emotions and feelings that we are not prepared for when it happens. Holidays, birthdays, anniversary, seasons that was shared with them, has us viewing life in an unfamiliar perspective that at times we just want to close our eyes and pray for it to go away.

I would like to encourage you to not to suppress your thoughts and feelings, but to embrace and express them. I know you are thinking it is not that simple and guess what, it is not. But there is one thing that I have learned in this journey is to be honest with what I would feel and pray to Father for the release/the easing of the emotions.

I have learned that suppressing how & what I feel adds weight to the grief. When I learned to be true to myself, true to me for me, but most importantly true to God, Our Father, who has promised us that He is with us always. I could no longer be the super mom, super sister, super employee, super preacher, it was important for me to no longer pretend so I took all the face masks off and expressed myself with these words, “I am not o.k., but in time I will, but today I am not.” Those words were liberating for me as I no longer had to pretend to be and feel something that I did not, but it also was my prayer, my cry to God that I need HIM NOW.

I would like to encourage you during this time of year to not seclude yourself from others but to press in and express yourself, with a non-judgmental family member, friend, and/or counselor. Write you thoughts in a journal, do not try to make sense of it just write, do not want to write, we live in a world of technology, download a text to speech app, and speak it out. And the best thing is prayer, reading God’s Word that is truth, life, and builds us a firm foundation for us to stand; move forward experiencing life with a distinct perspective for God and the cherished memory of our loved one.

If you become overwhelmed, need to talk, 988LifeLine where you can call, text 988; chat at 988lifeline.org or text MHA to 741741 to speak with a trained counselor.

I conclude with this prayer: Father, we shall give to you our worries, our cares to You, for we know You care for us (1 Peter 5:7-10) that amid the sadness, amid the pain that we shall be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12). Father, you know our paths of life, we ask that you will fill us with joy in your presence with Your eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11) We are grateful of the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name, It is So, It Shall Be, Amen.

Danetta Y McKinnon