Grieving in the Lord's Arms

Posted by Holly Nelson on Monday, June 14, 2010 Under: Just Because I said....

On May 20, 2010 my cousin Brandon Paudert was shot and killed during a traffic stop. He was only doing is job as a West Memphis police officer running drug interdiction. This was a tragic event in our lives. We have never had anyone get killed in our family before. I wasn't sure how to handle it. Only the Lord held us and helped us through it. Exactly two weeks later, as I was still grieving and crying everyday, all day over the loss of Brandon, our grandfather was killed in a car accident. He was the father of my Aunt who just lost her son in the West Memphis Police shooting. My grandfather lived to be 90 years old. We were so heartbroken to have lost him this way. The day before we lost PaPa it would have been Brandon's 40th birthday. A friend knew how I was still deeply grieving. She sent me this poem to comfort me. The next day when I was told about my grandfathers death, my mind went to this poem.......

"I am standing on the sea shore,
A ship sails in the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her
Till at last she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says:
"She is gone."
Gone! Where?
Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me,
not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
"She is gone",
There are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout:
"There she comes"
- and that is dying. A horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further. "
Bishop Brent

Thank You, Holly Irving!

When I thought about how tragic my grandfather died I also thought about how Brandon was the one who said, "HERE HE COMES! HERE HE COMES!", when our PaPa entered heaven. God may allow tragic things to happen in our lives. But, always remember~ God is Good ALL the time! I have felt his comfort and I know His plans are bigger than mine. I will not lie and say that I am doing fine. I'm not. I feel great pain in these losses. I still cry even more everyday. That is just the grieving process and I know it will get better. My trust is in the Lord and I have faith that "All things work together for good, for those who love HIM" (Romans 8:28) ~ Blessing, Holly Nelson

In : Just Because I said....

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