As I worked around home today I recalled a conversation with a friend this weekend. She was talking about how an elderly lady mentioned that she was becoming afraid to read the newspaper out of fear she would see another elderly friends' name in the obituary section.
My dad has talked a lot lately about how much he misses his siblings who have passed on this year and last. He knows they are in the presence of Jesus ecstatic to be there, but the loneliness of missed conversations and hugs are still felt deeply everyday.
Later as I sat down to work on a project related to raising orphanage funds, I thought about the fact that the Cambodian orphans will never mourn the death of an elderly relative. All older people have either been killed, died from disease or if any at all are still living - they have found new families which requires that they abandon their previous children. In most cases no one even knows they exist or cares.
Think about that, they will never lose an elderly relative...
That makes me realize - even to mourn an elderly relative or friend's passing is a blessing.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this, Lori.
As I read this, I think about my Grandpa, who passed away several years ago. He was my absolute favorite person on this planet!!! He was kind, generous, loving, a bit ornery…..but, what I remember most was his fierce love for God and the way he poured out his heart to his savior when he prayed.
I am truly blessed to be able to remember him in this way. And though he is no longer here, I still see him: In my older brother, I see his kindness and his orneriness. I see the twinkle he always had in his eye in my own son, Jack’s eyes. I see these same things in people who never even knew my grandpa: the many people that God has placed in my life to encourage/guide me on my walk with Him and to inspire that fierce love that I have found for Him.
You are correct in saying that the orphans will not lose an elderly relative…but, they have been touched by the Father, through those who have made the Journey to fill in as their relatives. In you, and others who have shown love and kindness; I am certain that they see the face of their Father, inspiring that fierce love that is so evident in the communication they send through blogs/letters. You will be the relatives that they miss and remember and see when they look at the people that God will place in their lives.
Tammy
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