Reflections in the Night

Reflections, ponderings, seeds of comfort and hope at the death of my wife, Kathleen.  

• My tears include droplets of hope.  Because of Christ and His Resurrection, I am assured of seeing my beloved again in the presence of Christ.  

• Kathleen never belonged to me, she belonged to Christ from age 4 to 64

•  Do you want to console me? In my lament remind me again how God worked in the past.  Your presence speaks volumes; remind me of Truth so that I edge toward renewed trust in Christ.

• “grief that carries with it the fierce seeds of eternal hope that watered by their tears, will bloom into a thousand living expressions of Your eternal kingdom made visible in this world”  Every Moment Holy Vol.2, pg 61

• May I be God’s benediction in the lives of others.  

• “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:18

• “Spiritual disciplines nurture steadfastness, what we practice in times of ease, we will recall in times of hardship”, Jen Wilkin, January 2024

• “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”      Psalm 23:4

• This mortal body was never designed to live in perpetuity.  You are not your body. You have a spirit and that spirit will live eternally. For those who accept Christ’s forgiveness and leadership, we are assured now that at our death our spirit is translated to be with Christ eternally and then fitted with a new resurrected Body, just like the Lord Jesus.

• This pain reminds me that I have loved well.   (Cheryl Rybka, friend) 

• “Death is the chariot our Heavenly Father sends to bring us to Himself”, Erwin W. Lutzer, One Minute After You Die, pg. 59

• “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot…”, African American Spiritual Attributed to Wallace Willis                                                                                             

• Helpful learnings from brain science.  “move from what you want to change to how you want to be.  What will it look like…how will you know when you achieved it?  You must focus long enough on the new…while the old (neuro-pathway) shrivels up. Dr. Keith Webb, “How to Rewire Your Brain for Change”