Saying Goodbye

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Saying Goodbye

by Zebbie Brewster

My mom has gotten to where she is not physically able to attend funerals anymore. Her heart and prayers are with the family, yet she cannot go and personally show them her love and concern. I have decided that, when possible, I will go for her. Some of the people I know, as they are our family. However, there are her friends that I do not know. I may know of them by how their friendships have touched not only her life but the lives of those she loves.

I will go by the funeral home to sign the book for her. I will write that she sends her love and prayers, and give

them hugs from her. I try to stay for the funeral, and that is where this experience has been so touching. To hear the words spoken over the dearly departed and the prayers sent up. By the time the service is over, I feel like I really did know this person and can see why my mom was friends with them. She still visited with them over the phone when she could, and those phone visits would lift her up.

We all need to be lifted up and receive an encouraging word! Sometimes, we are the ones God uses to lift others up, and sometimes we need to be lifted up! When someone I know needs lifting up, I don’t always know the right words to say. I can say I am sorry for what they are going through and I will help them pray about it. My verse of encouragement in the Bible is Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.”

Fears in our lives can paralyze us. As Christians, we find peace in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The Comforter that Jesus left with us when He went away. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). Attending the funerals of Christians ready to go to their heavenly homes can indeed be a celebration of their life. It is their homegoing, their time of graduation from this life to the next. Death is the vehicle that God uses to get them to their heavenly home. We are left to carry on, and with God’s help, we will make it one moment at a time. Trusting God to give us His strength when ours is gone. In the last two funerals I had attended, the families had received a letter to be read by them after the passing of the loved one. As a person who has journaled all my life, this was so very touching. Hearing words of encouragement one more time from your loved one, cheering you on as you try to make sense of life without them being there for you anymore.

Grief is hard! It can be overwhelming. Jesus knew about grief. He wept over the passing of his friend Lazarus. How do we make it through the grief process? Hold onto the good memories and hold onto the Lord who knows what our heart is going through. Like the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What a great place to be for those prepared to go!

About The Author Zebbie Brewster resides in Summerville, Georgia. She is an active member at Perennial Springs Baptist Church.