As I think about the one thing they all had in common, I find myself getting emotional. Most of those I lost knew the Lord, but a couple I’m not sure about. But they all had this ability to let others know they were special. They cared about people.
Life has a way of creating bruises on our battered hearts and bodies to the point we wonder if we can go on. Our lives sometimes take turns we don’t expect. Like our family recently, we end up losing someone we love, experience abuse, or are forced to deal with circumstances over which we have no control. It might be a hurricane or tornado that’s gone through, taking everything we own; or a fire that wipes out everything except the clothes on our backs. These events have the ability to not only scar us, but mar our perspective.
As we work through these events, trying to figure out who we are, where we belong, where we want to be, who to believe and direction to take, our choices can be skewed, which compounds the situation where we find ourself. Our bad choices suddenly become the signature of who we are, until we reach a point that we reach for Christ.
As I look back on the lives of those I’ve lost, I can’t see the mistakes they’ve made. I'm glad and maybe that’s a choice, too. I don’t know. But I know they impacted my life and losing them leaves me a bit battered. This is probably true for everyone of us who have lost someone. Even when we know they’ve gone home to be with their Lord and Savior, there is a part of us who are left behind, which is broken.
We wonder what we could have done differently, or why we didn’t make that last contact with them before they crossed over. We want just one more moment to have a conversation with them with the chance to share how much they mean to us and to tell them the impact they’ve had on our lives.
Someone likened our lives like a dine that’s been run over, beaten and thrown about with its edges all crinkled. Even in that condition that dime is still a dime. It’s value of ten cents, hasn’t changed.
Our lives sometimes feel jagged around the edges. We feel run over, beaten up with edges rumpled, crumpled and wrinkled, but our lives are still filled with worth—-especially in the eyes of God. Regardless of what we’ve been through, the mars and scars, wrinkles and damage incurred, God still loves us and wants us to move forward.
When I can look at my life like this, the one thing I can take away from all the recent loss in my life is, if these friends had an impact on me in a positive way, then it’s my responsibly to see to it that I impact others in the same manner. What better way can I let them know that they, regardless of the mars and scars they suffered—those things I never knew about—- never impacted me negatively. And my memory of them, will always be held close to my heart.
Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/body-scar.html
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