Remembering Judy

Bereft but not--Remembering Judy

"I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left-feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught." John 14:25 (The Message)

Cheryl here.

You know how you have those moments where you are just sad and need a lift? So sad that you are sure God is going to send something to bouy you because His compassion is great and his mercy mighty? I just returned from the memorial service of a family friend. A dear woman named Judy Robison. It's almost as if God is clanging her voice in my ear going, "Well, Cheryl! What-n-the-WORLD are you mopin' around the house for?"

That's exactly what Judy would say if she were here. And you know, it makes me laugh. And after saying that to me with a sarcastic glint in her eyes as she's rolling them, she'd rear her head back and laugh at me again with the boisterous chuckle exquisite to her, and then she'd laugh with me. Then she'd share some of the deep wisdom that she was full of. She never ran out of the right thing to say even though she always gave and gave and gave it. Words of wisdom and always laced with compassion and Judy's special kind of humor. As the pastor said today, "Judy always gave words of encouragement and deep knowlege that only comes from spending time with Him and in His word."

Now she is completely in Your presence, isn't she Lord? And I'll bet you're laughing together about a lot of things.

Judy.

A woman of greatness who loves God with all of her heart. She's with You this moment, probably picking Your brain about something in that Bible of Yours that she loved to read and knew like the back of her hand.

She loved her family and she loved life and she loved to create things. I still have this beautiful picture frame she made my husband and I when we got married. She used a dinner napkin from our wedding and our engagement announcement and our wedding invitation to create the most beautiful collage...a reminder forever of that special time in my life between my husband and I ten years ago.

And now that frame is a beautiful reminder of the woman of God who spent time crafting it with generous care and creative skill. She was a woman who thought of others. She had a sense of humor like no one else on earth. I wish you'd known her if you never met her. The way she talked. The way she held herself. Humor and sarcasm in the most loving way. How a person could be so delightfully gruff and determinedly tender at the same time...I don't know but she was. She could pick the humor out of any situation.

I know for her family, and especially for her husband, God is the only person big enough and special enough to fill the empty space left by her passing.

She is not gone. She's just in a different place. But to her family, it sure feels like she's gone.

And "gone" is a horrible word to have to experience and live day after day when all you long for is to hear their voice one more time. To be able to talk to them. Hug them. You miss everything about them, long for everything they were because there is no one else like them in the world. Irreplacable.

I'm thankful for the hope of Heaven that Jesus birthed when He died. When He rose, hope for humanity rose with Him. And it's available for all of us. Part of the hope of Heaven is that we WILL get to see our loved ones again. Another part of the hope of Heaven is there will be no more death. No more tears. No more deep, dark oceans of missing. No seas of pain or mountains of suffering or sickness or struggle. And never, not for one moment goodbye. That word won't grace Heaven's dictionary because it will no longer exist.

Death touches every one of us in some way sooner or later. I hope you know Him. I hope you hold the hope of Heaven in your heart. It comes from a relationship with Jesus. It begins with two words..."Yes, Jesus."

Judy would have wanted me to tell you that. So this one's for her and all that she stood for. All that she believed. All that she would hope and pray for FOR YOU were she here.

Please keep the Robison family in your deep prayers today and beyond as you think of it. Grief is crushing but God will sustain them.

Did I mention that I had just returned from the memorial service? Yes, and deeply sad for the family's loss. But Heaven's gain. And rememember how I said that I knew God would know how to bouy me? In my Inbox, from a devotional I receive from Misty Taggert http://www.ordinarywoman.com/ was the above bolded scripture.

I miss Judy and so I can't imagine what her family and close friends must feel right now, the ocean of missing they must be floundering in.

Have you lost someone close to you? Can you relate to grief? Are you more acquainted with sadness than you'd like to be? Lonely beyond words after losing a spouse or loved one?

Then I think His promise bears repeating:

"I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left-feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught." John 14:25 (The Message)

I am encouraged for her family and close friends thanks to this scripture. I know God will bring them comfort during this very difficult time.

This post is in loving memory of Judy Robison

Cheryl