HEROES IN THE SHADOW
Her name is Emily. She is a mountain climber who recently was featured in a documentary called “Girl climber” on Netflix. She persevered through the most rigerous attempts to climb El Capitan on the gold route in 24 hours. It took her years, with a lot of defeats, tears, and doubts. On her last attempt, with only one more pitch, she lost her footing and fell. But, this time she had a secret weapon. Her soon to be husband. He too was a climber and he knew and loved Emily. As he wrapped his arms around her, comforting her, he said these words “ You can do this Em…today is the day you finish this chapter in your life”. And with that she tried one more time and made it. As impressive as her accomplishments were, I know of other heroes who are not called heroes… they are called widows. Each of these women were married to amazing men who they call their best friends..the love of their lives. I have watched them go through their first holidays without them, heard their stories of the nights they sleep alone for the first time, navigating all the financial burdens, facing the unknowns of their changed futures. As each of them have shared with me, the waves of grief don’t go away…they just change their height and their frequency. These are my women friends who I call “ heroes in the shadow”. They face their mountains every day, they cry in silence, but they all have another thing in common. Jesus. Death of a loved one, the one they call their best friend, can tear you away from God, with doubts, anger, the “ why Lord” question. But, each of these women chose not to go down that path of destruction. Instead, they cling to Jesus, and have chosen to walk daily with Him, trusting their future to Him. Some are traveling, others are holding their new grand kids, some are starting new ministries, while others cling to their beloved dog, and prepare for a new home. As we all know, death is invetiable but when you have truly loved and been loved it can seem impossible to go forward. Like Emily, they too have a secret weapon… the Bible speaks about the tender love God has for the widows. He expects those that are his children to care for them because they are soooooooo loved by Him. God also reminds them they “ can do this..He still has a future and a plan for their lives…and it is good”. So, to my friends, my heroes in the shadow, you are not forgotten….you matter…and we commend your courage to go forward every day in the arms of Jesus. May we all remember those who have lost their loved ones and help them through these uncharted waters. One day we will all be with Jesus…and hold our best friend again….that is all of our hopes and I believe it is VERY soon….how about you?