Walking Through the Shadow of Death Don’t Miss the Sweet in Bitter Times

Walking Through the Shadow of Death

Don’t Miss the Sweet in Bitter Times

When we walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death

The things we say and the things we do

With each other take on a deeper meaning

Death helps us focus on the deeper things in life

It is in that time sweet moments come to help us with the bitter reality

Don’t let your sorrow get in the way of those who love you

Don’t Miss the Sweet in Bitter Times

When my sister-in-law was diagnosed

with pancreatic cancer it was devastating.

Four months later she was at home

spending most of her time in bed.

She had a series of bad days and asked if

we could come to Florida and be with her.

Four days later we took her to the hospital

to have fluid drained from her abdomen.

It was there she was told she

would have to go to hospice.

When she said she wanted to see her

daughters and grandchildren who were

coming in two weeks, the doctor said,

 “I am sorry but I am not sure you have two weeks”.

 

The rest of that day was getting the news out

so family and friends could make arrangements.

Several people came to the hospital and all cried.

That evening Mike and Judy’s son and

daughter in law stayed after others had left.

Josh began to share stories of growing up.

Before long the room was filled with laughter.

For about two hours, joy filled the room.

As Sandy and I left the hospital that night I thought…

“What do you do when you are told

you may not have two weeks to live.”

The answer… “have a party”.

The daughters and their families came

from the Carolinas and we had a party.

Nobody wanted to see Judy suffer and die.

But everybody wanted to enjoy her and

celebrate the joy Judy’s life had given them.

I realize we don’t always get the opportunity to enjoy

love ones in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

But if we do have the alertness, remember this…

There is a lot of bitterness in the

Valley of the Shadow of Death,

But there is also sweet.

Don’t miss the sweet because you

will need it to handle the bitter.

The laughter and joy continued to fill the

hospice room and when she went home.

God has made us for relationships…

To enjoy each other.

That joy can be experienced

in a fine vacation resort or in hospice.

The location is not what is

important but the people we are with.

When we walk through the Valley of the Shadow

of Death the things we say and the things

we do with each other take on a deeper meaning.

Death helps us focus on the deeper things in life.

It is in that time sweet moments

come to help us with the bitter reality.

Don’t let your sorrow get in

the way of those who love you.

Scripture Reading

1 John 4:7-12 NIV

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 NIV

2 It is better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting ,

for death is the destiny of every man;

the living should take this to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

because a sad face is good for the heart.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.