Life University Staff Council Newsletter Volume 8 Issue 2 | Page 4
FINDING A Miracle THROUGH LOSS By Shelia Wood
Let’s talk about miracles, even in the loss of a loved one. It may seem impossible to some, but I assure you it isn’t at all impossible. Follow me… This year has been a tough one so far, for so many. Here at LIFE, we have already suffered great loss and we’ve barely begun 2017. In January, we said goodbye to my dear friend, everyone’s friend, John Wheeler. He was soon followed by Kay Freeland, not to mention the countless relatives our LIFE community family have hugged for their last time. It seems like Daily Wire Condolence notices sadly have become almost commonplace. Work “family,” the ones we chose for ourselves as family and spend most of our waking day working beside, are a miracle. I tend to try and find humor in most everything. But this year, I have had a difficult time finding the funny. Maybe you have, too? Humor generally helps me cope and it’s hard for others to cry in your presence if they are laughing with you or at you. If you want to get into trouble at a funeral, sit next to me. Like many, I also find comfort in my strong faith. Knowing that someday, good Lord willing, I will see all my sweet friends and family again is a huge comfort and brightens the outlook about the hereafter. But the humor supersedes by far any practical thought I might have of life in the hereafter at times like this. Faith and humor are also part of the miracle. When we lose someone we love, well-wishers and well-intended folks tend to say things like, “They’re in a better place” - WHERE? Where, exactly, is this “better place”? Because when you’ve lost a loved one, there is no better place than right here with us. We want them back. We want them here. We are human, and although we wish for no more suffering, we also find it terribly hard to let go. Suddenly, this person, who drove you crazy at times, is gone and you could drive a Buick through the hole left in your heart. I mean an OLD Buick, not a smallish 2015 Riviera - but a big ol’ 1950’s version with fins! The reality that someone you have loved has left an indelible mark on your soul forever can often be a miracle, as well as a gift. John’s death has been particularly hard for me, as I am sure it has been for many of our readers. I had the distinct pleasure of working with that precious soul every day. I enjoyed his laughter, and his joy, his sense of humor and his temper. His absence has left an unfillable hole in my heart, in my life. Friendship is a miracle. Aside from this I have a dear aunt, much more like a mother than an aunt, who is losing her battle with cancer and my nearly 87-year-old mother is a late stage Alzheimer’s patient in shaky health territory. Family is truly a miracle. We love some of these people with all our being from the time we are born and some for only a few years. Good, bad and ugly, we love them. Being loved, truly loved, and learning to love in return is the biggest miracle of all. I was feeling a little wimpy one afternoon as my thoughtful mind was overtaken once again by an aching heart. As I held back tears when I thought about those who have either gone ahead of me, or seem to be making the transition before my eyes, I thought, “This is crazy!” Facing three big losses in one year seems like a lot. But is it really? Um, yep. All of this loss got me thinking about how people cope with such devastation. So I started doing a little research and I felt a little better. Google is a miracle.