August 27, 2016

Greetings My Friend, I am on a journey to recognize spiritual blessings more so. I understand material blessings fairly well but spiritual ones are not so easy to grasp. Yesterday grief struck me rather quickly and hard. A young woman I know died and since I had not followed her all the time on social media I was not aware of her decline. I knew her from my old church when I was a youth advisor to the teens. I remember her with fondness and how she would be at my side one minute and gone the next. Many times when she drew near she was seeking to comfort me with silliness. The thing is I see it now back then I just thought she was sweet. We had a talk many years later and she told me how the "kids" knew what was going on in my life even if I did not talk about it. I also realized that I did not know how depressed I was until I sought counseling and started to understand how abuse works. We hooked up again a few years ago after Junior and I moved to VA. We were back in MI and she had moved back from TN. We had lunch and reconnected our friendship only this time we were both adults. I enjoyed seeing her and we kept in touch mainly on social media. Last year we were in TN for a Marine Corps reunion and we hooked up again since we were near where she lived. We had lunch, I was surprised at how much better she looked from our first visit a few years earlier. I knew she had a terminal illness but as with invisible illness' you do not always see how sick a person really is. When I had seen she had passed I was struck with deep grief instantly. I told Junior, called my friend Marilyn who also knew Laura. We talked and shared a few memories and then we hung up. I still felt the sting of grief heavy on my heart like I needed to be with some that are grieving her as well. I do not know which state she was in so going to the funeral proved difficult. I talked with God several times and then I had a need to write. I first wrote a blog and it helped some. Later I wrote on Facebook which started sending a few hugs my way. Finally I did my page "Letters From Janet" on Facebook and again I wrote of my grief. I had the chance to "tell" how I miss her, how her life impacted mine and with that I was able to function again. Later I went to prayer and then I knew that God had given me the idea to write those things about my precious friend. I understood the spiritual blessing God had given me so that I would be comforted. God saw that I was troubled deeply, down to my soul and He provided. The more I reflect on this the more I am amazed at all the area's God works in my life. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet