grief – Page 4

Precious Moments

September 2, 2015trish1 Comment

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities.

First, I would like to introduce you to Jonah Neal Smith born to Britton and Michelle on August 11, 7lb 2 oz., 30 inches long. Big brothers Eli, who will turn 5 in a couple weeks, and Caleb, who just turned 3, are thrilled with their new brother.

We celebrated Caleb and Lane’s birthdays at Britton and Michelle’s so erveryone could see the baby. Lane (Grant & Jenni’s son) turned 6 and Caleb turned 3.

Caleb, Eli with Jonah, Lane, Corbin with Hadley

Eli and Caleb were able to spend a couple days with me here. It was Berrien County Fair week so the boys enjoyed a day of rides, animals and tractors!

Our dear friends (I mean MY dear friends) from Zambia came for a few days. I still catch myself saying “we” or “our” instead of “me” and “my.” They were here for some meetings in Chicago but also to attend our mutual friends son’s wedding in Holland, MI. This wedding was particularly hard for me. The Liske’s daughter got married two days after Neal died three years ago and Jim Liske did Neal’s funeral. The last words Neal said to me before he slipped in unconsciousness was that he wanted to make it through the weekend so he didn’t interfere with Ali’s wedding. It worked out that Neal’s funeral was 2 days after the wedding. Lawrence Temfwe, from Zambia, also spoke at Neal’s funeral. Sitting at the wedding I was reminded of when Christ returns. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, talks about that there will be a new heaven and new earth. Our old sick worn out bodies will be made new. The new place where we will reign with Christ will come down from heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. God will be with us for all eternity. It will be a place of no more sorrow, no more death, no crying or pain. (Revelation 21) Sounds pretty amazing to me. It gives me hope to continue on each day.

Cathy Liske, Martha and Lawrence Temfwe and Jim Liske

The day after the wedding I left with my widow friend, Julie, to go to a dude ranch in Colorado. My next post I will share about my awesome time becoming a cowgirl!

When I got home from the ranch, the following day was the anniversary of Neal’s death, Aug. 31, 2012. It was a hard day for me for several reasons. I mentioned earlier about the recent wedding; there were a couple times at the ranch that were emotional for me wishing Neal was with me; I was tired from traveling; while I was away the mice problem got worse (Whitney and Ty were house sitting and dealt with much of it which was a blessing) so I had a mess to deal with when I returned home.

This weekend is our annual Labor Day Weekend family reunion with my mom’s family. I love having everyone here. It is such a blessing to be together. So as I leave this post and anticipate my parent’s arrival, let me leave you with this thought:

Happy Moments–Praise God

Difficult Moments–Seek God

Quiet Moments–Worship God

Painful Moments–Trust God

Every Moment–Thank God

I pray your moments are filled with praise and thankfulness as we each continue on our journeys.

On trhe journey,

Trish

Remix

January 18, 2015trish5 Comments

Have you ever tried something brand new that you’ve never done before? I know I would never try parachuting out of an airplane but I always thought learning how to be barista would be fun. The church I have been attending has a coffee bar. They serve drip coffee but also lattes, mochas, etc. Yesterday a friend and I were trained how to run the coffee extraction machine, add syrups and froth milk. It was so much fun! Although, I came home with a caffeine buzz! This morning at church we volunteered to serve in the coffee bar. We didn’t do too badly!

After the death of a spouse the support groups have told us that you have to discover your new identity. After Neal died I was no longer “Neal’s wife,” didn’t work at Bridgman Family Dental Care but was single in a couple’s world, a widow. For me, to discover my new identity meant going to a new church, making new friends or connecting with old friends, finding new hobbies, or rediscovering old ones. It meant what did i want to eat? How did I want to spend my time? Becoming a barista at a new church is part of my journey to discover a new identity.

I have gotten back into sewing! I made some mittens out of old sweaters.

Neal always wanted meat at dinner. Now I can eat just fruits and veggies if I want.:)

Who would have thought mason jars would be such popular drinking glasses?

This past week I started in a Beth Moore bible study called “Children of the Day: 1 & 2 Thessalonians with a group of women I didn’t know. In the DVD Beth was talking about how Paul and Barnabas did ministry together but after a sharp disagreement they split ways. Paul then took on Silas and Timothy to travel with him. It may have been that Paul and Barnabas were too comfortable together that they didn’t want to seperate into two groups. But through this disagreement two groups were formed which ended up to further advance the gospel. God used a tough situation for good.

Remix: a new or different version of something that is made by chaning or adding to the original.

Death of a spouse definetely launches you into a remix. If you are in the midst of a difficult situation you are right where you should be for God to use. He will put us into a remix if we let him. If we aren’t open to a remix we may miss out on what God wants us to do and become bitter. We may miss out on meeting new people who will become our dearest friend. We may miss out on trying new adventures that will become our favorite hobbie. We may miss out on blessings that we receive during the remix. Sometimes renewal comes through the remix.

Maybe its time for something new. Maybe its time to stop repeating the same old thing. We aren’t here to stay the same!

I pray that you will trust that God knows what he’s doing and be open to his remix in you.

On the journey,

Trish

“Instead of becoming discouraged, depressed or angry when people disappoint us, God wants us to lift up our eyes, look around, and trust him to lead us into an even better situation. He wants us to look around and count our blessings instead of focusing on what we do not have. He wants us to fix our eyes on him, not on the work of the enemy, because he has plans to bless us.” Joyce Meyer, Everyday Life Bible, page 23.