Good Friday

By God’s Grace

It is by God’s Grace that my son is in Heaven. You see, he did not walk a life of Christianity or show of a relationship with the Lord. Yes, he did have a good and giving heart, but like you and me and everyone walking this earth he was a sinner. He did not claim to know Jesus and sometimes he claimed the opposite, although less often his later years. He was surrounded by Jesus through many of his close relationships; whether he knew it or not. There were times when we would talk during a moment of crisis in my life and his final words during those conversations would be, “Mom, this is where I need to tell you to pray to your God.” I believe that is where he knew I would find the peace I was seeking in those moments and he knew my faith to be strong.

I have had many blessings in my life; even when I didn’t walk with the Lord. I was blessed to be a wife and experience the unity of marriage for nearly 20 years. I am blessed to be a mother; not once, not twice, but three times and the third came with a 20-year span between number 2 and 3. I am blessed to be a grandmother to wonderful boys and girls that I cherish. I am blessed to be a daughter of the Lord and to my mom and dad who are now with the Lord. I am blessed to be a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a niece, etc. etc. I consider each of these things a blessing; everyone should. Eight years ago this past February, I was blessed with the first of two miracle healings and my battle with Fibromyalgia and Depression ended. Three and a half years ago I walked out of Church without crutches as I was blessed with my second miracle healing only to begin the toughest journey of my life; 14 days later my youngest son would lose his father and two years later we would lose BJ. The greatest blessing God has given me was the grace he gave BJ on October 20, 2016 when he took him Home with Him. To know that my son was saved and is waiting for us is the greatest of all blessings.

It is important to see the blessings in the turmoil, see the grace in the tragedy, and lean towards God through the pain. How easy it is to turn our back on God when we are angry or upset, but that is exactly when we should turn to Him. To be a Christian does not mean that life is all sunshine and lollipops. We all suffer; believers and nonbelievers. Having faith is staying strong during the difficult times so you can enjoy the glorious times. You all know I have suffered as I have been sharing my journey. There has even been Friday mornings, like today, that I wake up and realize I haven’t written my post and I have no idea what to write or how I’ve been feeling. I haven’t had time to digest my feelings, I’ve been buried (no pun intended) in work for the past three months. But nonetheless, it is Forget You Not Friday and regardless of what is going on in my life it is the day I choose to honor and dedicate to my son EVERY week. Not once in a while or it won’t matter if I miss a week…EVERY week, Friday’s belong to BJ. The words don’t always come easy and I might stumble on them, but I won’t forget to write. On these days, I sit quietly and I ask God to let me know what I am supposed to share today, what my message is, and to give me the words to write. I know my prayer is answered each time as I sit down to my computer and I immediately know what to share and what message to relay as the words start flowing, and about half way in…the tears start flowing. At that moment, I thank God because I know I am writing from my heart and He knew what I needed to share and that I needed to release some tears.

On this Good Friday, March 30, 2018, count your blessings and know “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16