The People God Sends to Help Carry You
Accepting Help After the Loss of a Spouse
After Jon passed, I was so overwhelmed at the thought of doing life without him.
He was my person, my best friend, and we worked well together as a team. When he died, that was all gone.
I was suddenly alone.
All at once, decisions were solely mine that had once been shared. Responsibilities for things Jon used to handle were now mine. In the midst of fresh, intense grief and becoming a single parent, I now had responsibilities for things I had never imagined I would have to handle alone.
I had to get the oil changed in the cars.
Make sure the tires were safe for winter.
Mow the lawn.
Make sure the heating oil was filled.
Find someone to replace the shingles that blew off the roof.
Remember to change the smoke detector batteries.
Fill the water softener with salt.
Pay the bills.
The list went on and on.
Read more...
Learning to Walk Again
How to Take the Next Step After Losing Your Husband
When I lost Jon, I not only lost my husband, my best friend, the father of my children, I also lost our future together. I lost our goals and dreams. I lost the man I was going to grow old with and retire with. I lost trips we wanted to take, projects for our house we were thinking about, and family moments we would never have. I lost watching him walk our daughter down the aisle, helping our son buy his first car, and having grandbabies together.
Losing a spouse is so much more than the loss of a person. It’s also a loss of everything that person meant in your life. You were a team working together for a purpose, and when that is suddenly gone, it feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath your feet. You’ve lost your balance, and you have no idea how to get it back because the one who kept you balanced is now gone.
How are you supposed to recover from that?
How do you move forward when you can’t even figure out how to move at all?
How do you plan for a future when you can’t even figure out how to plan the next day?
Moving forward can feel impossible.
Read more...