Amid the Loss and Pain

Our daughter Tracy died December 30, 2012. She had overdosed on over the counter pills she thought was an answer to pain.

I had seen her at Thanksgiving. Our family did this so that Tracy and Rick could have Christmas with his family. She always tried to give me a gift for my birthday and for Christmas that she thought was just right. For that Christmas she had bought me a pair of western boots. She asked me questions and she consulted with a boot man at a large western clothing store. So she selected black boots, exotic leather and pointed toes with capped heels and toes. I have always wondered if I conveyed to her how much I loved those boots. I wear them about once a week. Just enough but not too much to wear them out. And of course, I think of her each time I wear them. If you have a similar loss, you know the pain.

This week I read a devotional thought that hit me head on. A lady from Alabama had a son that died in December of 2016. His name was Buddy. She wrote, “Our church has an old-fashioned altar call at the end of every service. Most of the time that altar is full of people that take prayer seriously. A few weeks after my son Buddy died, I knelt at that altar sobbing and all I could say was, My Son, My Son over and over again.”

Prayer is probably the wisest thing we can do amid such loss and pain. It may be simple and very devoid of content, but God hears our heart and is there with us.

Psalm 36:16 says, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me for thy mercies sake.”