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"I Surrender!"

4/23/2019

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Nothing in my life "buckled" me like the death of our youngest son, Kevin. I've had many "buckling" moments, but the death of our son, is what "helped me fall into the arms of God" and His grace, like nothing else.

Death has a way of showing us the reality that we really don't have control, and that thinking that we do is simply an illusion that doesn't serve us well in this life or prepare us for what's ahead.

After the death of our son, I surrendered ALL - I held nothing back, surrendering completely to the sovereignty of God.


In that defining season of my life, I was literally set free of any lies that I may have believed at one time that I was in control somehow.

Sometimes we have to be "buckled" for our own good. This weekend, my family was "buckled" by the murder of our precious Wendi Miller, who was a "daughter of my heart." How could this happen to someone so good, kind, compassionate, full of life, and the joy of living?  She was completely surrendred to God - How could this be part of God's plan for "good?" Why her, why now?

Wendi was absolutely surrendered - she knew what it meant to be "yielded and still" and had the confidence and assurance that God was enough. She loved her son and daughter passionately and was devoted fully to them though they had been wrongfully ripped away from her at a very young age by her x-husband through a corrupt family court system in Michigan. You can read her story at www.wingsforjustice.com.


Though I am very acquainted with grief and loss, Wendi's murder threw me to my knees and I have been overwhelmed and somewhat paralyzed with grief. All I can think about is her and her children and family - knowing so well what they are going through breaks my heart. However, once again, as with the loss of all my loved ones through the years, knowing that she is now in the arms of Jesus is fills my broken heart with hope and comfort, I am once again required to surrender and accept God's will.

Death makes us look at life in a different way, but when we come to a place of complete surrender it causes me to look ahead to my own time when I, too, will be gone from this Earth. Death causes me to be much more aware of how I am spending my time and to challenge my priorities and what I value, as well as challenging me to live more passionately and with much  more JOY! Suddenly, all the other cares and concerns fade away and it is the light of Christ and the hope of Eternity that I see.

How about you?  Are you still trying to control what you have no control over? Do you wrestle with the reality that God may just be calling you to "surrender absolutely?"

Rest in Peace, our precious Wendi, and I know you'll do what you said you would do, if you headed HOME before me . . . that you will meet up with Kevin, and the rest of my loved ones who have gone on ahead of me, telling them that "we are faithful, trusting, yielded and surrendered, and that our love for them goes on and on and on." I am "buckled" by the loss of you, but I will collapse in the arms of Jesus once more.

Surrendered,
Angie "a mom like you"
www.amotherlikeme.info
amotherlikeme@gmail.com





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"Jesus Makes God Visible"

4/16/2019

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In preparing my heart for this Holy Week and Easter, I recently was sharing with a close friend how I long to see Jesus face-to-face and how much easier it would be to be faithful, if He wasn't invisible to us.

As always, the Holy Spirit was faithful to speak into my desire to experience Jesus in the flesh, as He lead to me to some notes that I had taken many years ago from an Anne Graham Lotz "Just Give Me Jesus" Conference.  

​Ann Graham Lotz is the daughter of Billy Graham one of the most anointed evangelists of all time who shared the Good News of The Cross with millions of people all over the world.

Though not with us in the flesh, Jesus Makes God Visible because . . .

HE is enduringly strong.
HE is entirely sincere.
HE is eternally steadfast.
HE is immortally gracious.
HE is imperially powerful.
HE is impartially merciful.
HE is God's Son.
HE is the sinner's Savior.
HE is the captive's Ransom.
HE is the Breath and Bread of Life.
HE is the centerpiece, the epicenter of civilization.
HE is unparralled.
HE is unprecedented.
HE is undisputed and unshakable.
HE is the Cornertone, the Capstone and the Stumbling Stone of all religion.
HE is the miracle of AGES.

Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us - and it was good to be reminded that though I cannot see Him, He is with us ALWAYS and that blesses and strengthens me.

Jesus is real, He lived, died on the Cross of Calvary and was resurrected to "make all things new," and to be the "way, the truth and the life" eternally.

May we all experience the real presence of Jesus at this blessed season.

https://myhopewithbillygraham.org/program/the-cross/​

Love in Christ Eternally,
Angie "a mom like you"
amotherlikeme@gmail.com
www.amotherlikeme.info





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"We Will Meet Again!"

4/12/2019

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I don't know if it's my age, or a season of life, but with each new "goodbye for now," the phrase "life is short and death is sure" seems more true than ever before.

The recent deaths of two close family friends combined with the loss of my brother in 2018, having to place my brother-in-law in an assisted living facility, my 92 year old mom in long term care and recently my step-brother-in-law in a memory care facility is making me face the reality of just how brief our lives here on this Earth really are. And, I find myself wondering who's next - and could it be me?


Through the years, I have found that the more losses I experience, the easier it is for me to grieve, but I do not grieve as those without hope and I have a strong sense that a very special reunion is ahead.

Because of my Eternal hope in the promise of Eternal life in Jesus, death has no "sting" for me. Though I often grimace and have even argued with God concerning the timing and the causes of the death of those I love, the more loss I experience, the more my focus shifts from the here and now to the THERE!  I am definitely living closer to the "edge of Eternity" and I imagine all those I have loved who are no longer here with me are waiting and looking forward to the time when we will  "meet again."  Do you have that hope because of the gift of Eternal Life given to us through Jesus Christ?  For me, it is most certainly my faith that assures me that I will not only meet my LORD, but also my loved ones soon, very soon.  Do you have that assurance?


With Faith, Hope and Love,
Angie "a mom like you
www.amotherlikeme.info
amotherlikeme@gmail.com







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Healer's Journey

4/10/2019

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Two years after our son, Kevin, died I had a strong desire to help other "mom like me," and after 4 years, I co-founded Mothers Like Me, a comfort ministry for grieving moms.

Over the next decade, I experienced an extra measure of healing for myself, as I comforted, encouraged and companioned with hundreds of grieving moms.

I realized early in my grieving that the journey of grief is not a solo journey and that there is strength in sharing the journey with others who truly understand the pain and sorrow of loss.

Sadly, I have known too many misguided people who think that suffering should be done in silence and alone - afraid that they will be a burden and annoyance to others by sharing their heartache, they mistakenly, needlessly suffer alone and never really find God's healing peace and renewed joy - continuing to live in what I call the "shadows of grief."

Gladly, there are people in this world who have and can express compassion, mercy and genuine empathy for others, and it's usually because they, too, have suffered and have healed that they are willing to help others.

I would say that I have had my fair share of heartache, sorrow, pain, disappointments and spiritual attacks - like arrows in my back - and it is only when I reach out to comfort, encourage or help someone who is suffering that I realize that though I bear the scars, the arrows did not and cannot destroy me. I am stronger and better for the suffering , but even more for caring and helping others, and I never want to stop helping others, which helps the wounds to scar over and completely heal. 

The picture above turns my heart toward JESUS, as we prepare to honor and celebrate the sufferings, death and resurrection of our blessed Redeemer King.  He took all the "arrows" (nails), all the pain, all the sins of the world upon Himself to redeem us and gift us with Eternal Life,  and if there had only been you or me in the world, at the time, He still would have done what He did for His love for us.

May we love others "more than ourselves," and may we who have been comforted "comfort others, as we ourselves have been comforted."

Love and Blessings ALWAYS,
Angie "a mom like you"
amotherlikeme.info
www.amotherlikeme.info









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A Letter from a "Mom Like Me"

4/8/2019

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My dearest Angie, 

​You have been on my mind this past week. My husband and I took our oldest two children, their spouses and our three grandbabies on a family vacation to Surfside City, SC on Monday. 

Like every vacation we settled in and began to familiarize ourselves with the area. Finally, I felt settled enough to venture out on my own.

I saw a pier in the distance and set off to explore the sandy terrain.  The sky was a vibrant blue and the salty air felt like tiny kisses on my skin. I was pretty certain I could have walked for hours in those conditions.  As I walked through the fine sugar, I recounted my childhood adventures at the beach just a few miles from where I was walking.  Then I played back the beach vacations I had taken my daughters on; nothing somber or sullen, just fragments of sillyness and delight came to my mind. 

And then I saw young surfers- one girl - five boys - and one patient mom helping them wiggle into their wetsuits. 

I have never surfed nor have I given it much attention or thought.  But on this particular day, I stood back and watched these innocent, beautiful teenagers paddle with all of their might, attempting to catch a wave only to be toppled into the sea.  The exercise was repeated over and over until finally a successful journey to the shore was won. The others didn't make a fuss or cheer each other on, it was like an unspoken adoration shown only by each of them not giving up. 

I can't say for sure how long I stood there, but I saw a lot of falls and a few great rides. The tenacity was unwavering. The quiet respect to the ocean and each other was awe inspiring. I thought of your son, Kevin, and how he must have had a similar demeanor - a calm in knowing there were waves that would be just for him. I thought about how each wave was unique and would never be repeated. I reflected on how God is so consistent at loving us just the same as He is at bringing the waves to the shores - each unique, each intentional, and never-ending. 

The ocean brings me great calm and simultaneously exhilaration.  I have always viewed it as His mighty hand that brings the magic, power, beauty and strength to those who are blessed to stand on the water's edge. But last week, I was shown it is so much more than that to those who ride the tides.  They know how special they are to Him. They know that silence is respect. They know that their brother or sister is deserving of a wave. They know the first wave is only the beginning. And, they understand if they miss one - it wasn't meant to be.

After this experience, I believe surfers must be born with unique souls.  I remember you saying Kevin had a "surfer's soul."  It must have been the sea in him that drew him to the blue waters. What a wonderful young man I'm certain he was, and I'm saddened that I never had the opportunity to meet such a treasured surfer. And yet, in some strange way, I felt I met the essence of who he was through those six young surfers

I love you and thank you for entering my world at such a dark and heavy time.  Thank you for being who He meant you to be. You are a blessing to me. 

Love,
Sharon Younie  "a mom like you"

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    These blog pages are written by and for moms who have suffered the loss of a child.

    May the reflections and expressions of mothers' hearts be a source of comfort, help and encouragement and may you, like these moms, accept God's great exchange as "He gives beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for the spirit of heaviness . . " Isaiah 61:3

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