death

Posted on December 20, 2025 by landktheluckyones

In the course of over a year, many we have known and loved have passed away. This is heartbreaking for those of us who remain. Wishes for more time with those we love. For what they meant to us and hopes for what they would be in the future.

The Bible states that because of Christ’s sacrifice, that He removed the fear of death, but many of us still fear death. We do whatever we can to avoid it. Even within the hardships, we enjoy this life we have known.

I imagine that if we truly believed that God loves us as it states in Romans 8:38, that His love will hold us, we would not fear.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. “Romans 8:38

We, who are believers in Christ, are called to die to self and sin. Die to the natural things of the flesh. Live and follow Christ. I think that often, we are thankful for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Allowing us to know that when we leave this earth that we will be with Him, where there is no more death or sorrow. Yet, we fail to realize that when we accept Christ as our Savior, we have already died from this life and are basically just waiting for the time when He takes us to the next step with our new body that is like His. We all are already living in eternity.

When I was younger, there was a comedian, Flip Wilson whose trademark line was, “the devil made me do it”. We all thought it was funny, but there is an amount of sad truth in this statement. If “the devil makes me do it” then, I am living for the devil and not Christ. I think this is hardest for us, that we no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ. This is a moment by moment struggle between how we were born (in sin) in this physical world where self is preeminent and releasing every situation to Christ. Sometimes, we fear doing this, because we fear that He will take away something we love.

The fact remains that at some point, we will all leave this earth. Why do we live with the illusion that we won’t? There have been times in my life when loved ones have faced death and being that it was “in their face” so to speak, they were forced to think about leaving this life. Yet, on a daily basis, we are facing death all day long, and we don’t think about it. “That’s not going to happen to me, I have time to do this or that”, but do we?

My neighbor, just one year older than I, was just watching a football game and had a massive heart attack. As Jesus said about the coming of the age, “We do not know the day or the hour”, this is true for Christ’s return and also for our time here on earth.

I have to admit, that often, I live this life not in the reality of what is true. That I have died to myself. That Jesus is not a sideline to my life. That He IS my life. My lifeline. May I remember always that Christ came to save the dead. That was me and continues to be me when I don’t die to this world.

We still grieve those we loved that have already made that transition. For they are special and have been in our life for a purpose and for us to love. I am thankful that God loved us so much that He has given us the gift of those to love.

Posted on May 9, 2025 by landktheluckyones

Contemplating

It seems that I am in a season of contemplation. Many thoughts of life, death, blessings, disappointments. Many times, we think we have life all figured out, only to find that we don’t. So many things that we can’t understand or explain away.

I have seen devastation and blessing. Every week, there are so many prayers for hurting people. At the same time, people are receiving blessings in their lives. Isn’t that how life is? A series of ups and downs that change our lives from here on out. We are either making memories or clinging to the ones from the past.

It challenges me to not be so self-centered. There are many opportunities to rejoice with someone over the blessings they receive. Or to be blessed myself over spending precious moments with a friend, as I did this week. I feel the Spirit within me is encouraging me to endure and be long in my prayers for those whose lives have been forever altered by the loss of a loved one, an accident that they may not fully recover from, a diagnosis or a host of unfortunate events. Often, people pray when the event occurs, but quickly go about their lives as if nothing happened..but, the people whose life has forever altered, there is no more normal. They have to learn to navigate broken.

This golf team that was in an accident has been on my heart. The coach is not doing well. All the kids on this team have been affected. Newspaper articles claimed the team had minor injuries. Yet, I have learned that many have years of rehabilitation needed for their broken bones and also for the emotional impact. Will we remember them when they are out of the hospital and have that long recovery period? Do we remember those who have lost their significant other, child or close friend? May this not be.

I have decided that I will not quit bringing all I know who are hurting before the Lord, for their hurting does not end. It is altered. They will function again in a different way. I will continue to ask Him for His comfort and strength to surround them. Not just for a time but until they meet Him or I do, which ever comes first.

Even though I have always felt extremely blessed when I see someone that I haven’t seen for awhile or those I used to see on a daily basis. I will thank Him more for each moment that I get to spend with these precious people. Whether that moment is just a brief “Hello” or an afternoon of enjoyable conversation. In doing this we will continue to be…The Lucky Ones, blessed by God.

Posted on March 17, 2025March 19, 2025 by landktheluckyones

The Journey Continues

We often, in the Christian community state, “all for Jesus”. Do we know the weight of these words? Or are we fair weathered? We like to put God in a box. If we do these things…He will do such and such.

Do we really mean ALL? We say, “Even if you don’t.” This sounds really good on the surface. We honestly so want to be that mature. Yet, are we?

I have to admit that I am not that mature. Oh, I thought that I was. Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. We say…”Oh yes, I will do that for Jesus.” Often, we think this to mean, our trials of trying to imitate Jesus – blessing someone that has hurt us- go the extra mile- or to lay down those things of the flesh. We can do all those things and more without questioning His goodness. Why? They make sense to us. They are fairly easy to attain.

So…what about when things Don’t make sense to us. When things happen that we can’t tie up in a neat little bow. When our life as we have known it has shattered to pieces. What then? It causes us to re-evaluate. Re-evaluate God, ourselves, life, death. Despite our evaluating/reevaluating, God remains the same. For some reason, we think that the goal is for us to have a trial free life instead of glorifying God.

We all know in our heads that God loves us, His ways are higher than our ways. That He is good. I continue to believe this. I continue to believe that God answers our prayers. It does not make the pain go away or stop me from delving into Scripture for answers. Even if He doesn’t answer my specific ones.

God did allow His own Son to die a horrible death –Jesus also prayed for deliverance. That prayer was not answered. Yet, Jesus never doubted His Father’s love.

Our pastor recently shared a Psalm and referred to the “festal shout”. I had never noticed this term before. He said that it was used between the trial and the fulfillment of God’s promises. This caused me to do a search on this and it has been quite helpful. For we are not in one or the other on a usual basis. When we are in a trial, it seems to be a journey and the “festal shout” is believing along that journey of what God promises us. That we will get through to the other side as we rely on Him. It’s about praising Him for who He is and believing in His plan, not my own.

I feel that I have been struggling with my daughter-in-law’s passing for numerous reasons. Mainly, I loved her. Secondly, it breaks my heart to see my son in pain and my grandsons. Also, my son and his family have been very private. So, we were always in confusion as to how to reach out. This was hard for us as parents. When my Dad and my Mum died, I was heartbroken for an extremely long time for each of these I held dear. Yet, I had piece of mind in the fact that I spent everyday with them. Said all the things I wanted to say before they left. No regrets. With my daughter-in-law, I did not see her everyday, did not realize the extent of her illness or what they were going through. Now, I do have regrets. Could there have been ways that I could have reached out? Ways that I could have “been there” for them and still allowed them their privacy? Does my son feel that I could have done more? These thoughts permeate my mind often. I know that I am not the only one who has or is going through a valley and I believe these questions could apply to anyone.

Many things as a Christ follower do not make sense. Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, etc. I am finding this too does not make sense to me when I think about losing those we love. We know that we will or others will lose us, but we choose not to think it will happen to us. Then it does, and we are devastated. I guess that’s a bit odd.

In the midst of my trying to grasp meaning, I believe that I will do the “festal shout”. To praise God in the journey, even if I’m not as mature as I should be. I will praise Him that Jinn is not in pain. I will praise Him for allowing my life to be changed by a young woman from the other side of the planet whom I loved like my own. I will praise Him in the valley, as He changes me to who I need to be. I will praise Him for helping me to realize that maybe I did have Him in a box and that box needed to be opened to draw me closer to Him.

Posted on December 17, 2022March 5, 2023 by landktheluckyones

More random thoughts

We spend most of our lives just trying to get by. We work to create a life that sustains with hopes that one day, we will live a time with ease–or to do those things we don’t have time for, while “doing life”. Yet, this is often not the case. In spite of this, along the journey our lives touch other lives and they impact us forever.

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of my friend’s husband. He, in his 58 years, had earned much praise for the person that he was. A man so loved by all who knew him. A talented craftsman, family man. Much love and laughter filled the life that he and my friend created. My heart is breaking for her as she must journey on without the man that she fiercely loved. From this moment on, she will need much support and love.

As I was sitting there, waiting for the proceedings, I looked around at others attending. Some relatives, some friends, some friends of relatives. Each were touched in some way by my friend, her husband, her family. Some were friendships that my friend and I had created from where we work. Each touched in some way. Attending a funeral often causes us to think of our own mortality. Some, for this reason, avoid funerals. For those that remain, it is a final goodbye, a time to honor a life lived or just wanting to be a support to those we care about.

God, in His wisdom, created each one of us, wonderfully. He has a purpose for each of us, the lives we will touch, connecting on this earth. Preparing us for life eternal. He alone, knows the number of days we will remain on this earth. I feel so lucky for all those He has placed in my path. Isn’t that what He created us for? To love Him, show that love to others and let others know how much He loves us and wants all of us to meet our loved ones and those we “brush elbows with” in heaven whenever that time may be.

Death, even though we know that it happens to all of us, don’t want to think about it. I have been thinking about it a bit recently, being that they have updated my daughter-in-laws diagnosis to only four months.We have the illusion that we will have as long as we want. We are not in charge of that. For some, it comes suddenly without a moments notice, for some, they have a long journey of pain and suffering. I do not begin to understand why these things are so, yet I believe there is a purpose for whatever journey we have.

I remember when my grandson was going through chemotherapy, my son wrote about fear. That fear of losing something that you have. I feel that if we have that fear and that heartache of losing someone close to us, that also means that we were lucky enough to have someone in our life of such value that we fear losing that.

My friend had that person of much value in her life that she was lucky enough to spend almost 40 years of marriage with.

May we always keep eternity in mind as we go about our life each day. Remembering, as my mother wrote in her own eulogy, that love is the most important thing.