Moving On

The year my grandfather died I was a young mother  and my family members traveled to be with and help my grandmother a few  more times than usual.
  
Grandma was grieving the loss of her "sweetheart" as she would tell me, and it seemed to me she was doing well.  She was still accomplishing everyday things, she would find joy in life, she would speak fondly of her beloved, and she was happy. 

 As this time wore on "everyone" seemed to wonder when my grandma would "move on."   Her health was slipping at 85 and when family would stop over in the late afternoon she would be "in the dark", sitting in "his chair", and wearing "his sweater".

At that time I wondered what was wrong with these things.  Why were they pushing her to "move on" when in reality she was? 

That time is now long ago, I have grieved the loss of many people I have held dear, and I have experienced great tragedies.  I often remember the moments with my grandma in her grief.  Her example has been huge to me as I have grieved. 

How can anyone really understand what each of us have dealt with and have overcome in our lives and to what degree these things have affected us.   Love, compassion, and mercy should be the our banner of our heart's desire because we have Jesus as our own Savior who is our example of these attributes and so much more.

Moving On, by Eliza at Recovering Grace, is a good example for all of us to hear and heed.  We will have just a tiny "window" into what pain, control, and manipulation can do to a person and some of the "whys" of the time it takes to recover.

This world is not our home.  Evil runs rampant ever so much more every day now.  So many, many are "wounded" by all sorts of things, not just by the grief of losing a loved one.  Let us be handmaidens for the LORD full of compassions as we come along others who are "moving on" but need mercies and kindnesses because of Jesus.