Please accept my condolences. I have prayed for your wife, daughter, you and your family and I will do so in the future. Please seek the comfort of God’s love and hold on tight.
We have lost 2 children, 20 years apart. Maximilian was 2 1/2 when he died suddenly in 1988, and Alexander, our firstborn who had bipolar disorder, was killed by stabbing in 2008 at the age of 28. The pain still ambushes me at unexpected times.
Two weeks ago at church the following hymn was sung. It is by John Newton. The words keep coming back to me. They refer to inward trials but the same is true for outward trials.
1 I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and ev’ry grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.2 ‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray;
And He, I trust, has answered prayer:
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.3 I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And, by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.4 Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart,
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in ev’ry part.5 Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Humbled my heart, and laid me low.6 “Lord, why is this?” I trembling cried;
“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
“‘Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”7 “These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free,
To break thy schemes of worldly joy,
That thou mayst seek thy all in me.”
May God be with you and may you and your family find peace in Him.
Sincerely,
I am terribly sorry for the loss of your daughter and the trials and tribulations you have faced. I wish I could say or do something to ease the pain and suffering.
Rest assured you and your family are in my prayers.
God’s Blessings in this time of grief.
The poem below by Thomas Merton may not totally fit present circumstances but it has given me some comfort when friends and family pass.
For My Brother—Missing In Action 1943
By Thomas Merton
Sweet brother, if I do not sleep
My eyes are flowers for your tomb;
And if I cannot eat my bread,
My fasts shall live like willows where you died.
If in the heat I find no water for my thirst,
My thirst shall turn to springs for you, poor traveller.
Where, in what desolate and smokey country,
Lies your poor body, lost and dead?
And in what landscape of disaster
Has your unhappy spirit lost its road?
Come, in my labor find a resting place
And in my sorrows lay your head,
Or rather take my life and blood
And buy yourself a better bed
—Or take my breath and take my death
And buy yourself a better rest.
When all the men of war are shot
And flags have fallen into dust,
Your cross and mine shall tell men still
Christ died on each, for both of us.
For in the wreckage of your April Christ lies slain,
And Christ weeps in the ruins of my spring:
The money of Whose tears shall fall
Into your weak and friendless hand,
And buy you back to your own land:
The silence of Whose tears shall fall
Like bells upon your alien tomb.
Hear them and come: they call you home.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-my-brother-missing-in-action-1943/
My thoughts are with you and your wife. Bless you.
God bless you and yours, Sir. I am so sorry, you and your family are in my prayers.
I am so very sorry. You are in my prayers.
Prayers up for you all.
I am so sorry to know what you are going through. I am praying for you and your family at this time of loss.
I am so very sorry. Prayers for you and your family.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your dear family. May God Bless and Comfort you and your family.
HUGE PRAYERS UP!! I can’t imagine your pain. Take care.
May God comfort and hold you and your family in all things.
My adopted daughter is diagnosed bi-polar and has FASD, she has attempted suicide a few times, I pray daily she won’t.
I’m so sorry you guys are going through this. I wish I could take the burden away from you. I prayed for you because I know Jesus eases my burdens. God bless you.
I am so, so sorry. As a parent myself, my heart aches for you. I can’t even imagine it.
I hope it may help in some tiny way if I mention that the night my grandfather passed away (he had been ailing for some time with Alzheimer’s, but we had no reason to believe he would go anytime soon, and we didn’t receive notification of his passing until the next morning), he appeared to me in a dream and said goodbye (although without actual words). The thing that surprised me, and that I will never forget, is that my grandpa was clearly happy to be moving on. He was actually in kind of a hurry. I will never forget the quiet eagerness he displayed to move on to where he was going. It was a solemn moment, but he was clearly happy. I hope you don’t mind me mentioning this, but that dream actually changed my outlook about life after death, and let me know that Heaven is real, and that apparently the freed soul is eager to go on and get there ASAP.
I pray for your daughter’s peace, and for peace and strength for you and your family.
Have prayed for you the comfort and mercy of God.
Prayers..God bless
I am so very, very sorry, rfreedom4u. I will say prayers for you and your family during this most difficult and stressful time. I wish there were words of comfort that I could write that could give you some ease of your pain. IMHO, mental illness is a disease and THAT disease took away your daughter... no differently than a cancer or a horrible accident. You will see her again one day... and I truly believe that with my entire heart and soul. (((Hugs))) Mom
May God bless and strengthen you as He holds her on His lap.
