| Pre-Spring Cleaning © Betty Sue Eaton |
Although Spring is still a couple of months away, it's never too soon to air out, rearrange,
clean up and out! You began a new year a week ago and with it, I hope you vowed to
make a new beginning. Now, why not go a little further and clean up your spiritual house
as well!
If you have recently lost a loved one and have been going through the very difficult work
of grieving that loss; maybe it's time to set some new goals, some positive goals for the
rest of your life. Never would I discount the breaking of your heart and the missing of your
loved one, but I will tell you this: God gave us only a limited time on this earth to fulfill His
purpose for our lives here. Maybe now is the time to refocus on that purpose and try to
get on with it.
I have found there are several ways to take back control of your life in the face of tragedy.
One such way is to engage in physical labor, hard work! When you're doing something
that requires muscle, there is little time to linger over heartbreak and pain. So here are
some of the ways to get into it.
Your house has been closed up for the Winter, and if it is like mine, it's more than a little
stale. It could use an airing out. Why not get out the window cleaner and make those
eyes onto the rest of the world sparkle! They not only let others view your home with
appreciation, they allow you to look out on the rest of the sparkling world! When I'm
feeling less than sparkling myself, I have found it really brightens up my spirit to see the
sunshine God has sent my way throughout the day.
Perhaps the woodwork in your home has been showing the ravages of being neglected
because of your grief. I can understand the general malaise one endures when deep in
the work of getting used to a death in the family. So get out the mop bucket, scrub brush,
soap and sponge and roll up your sleeves, then apply some good old-fashioned elbow
grease to those baseboards, door frames and cabinet fronts! Not only will you have
worked hard on your house, you have worked hard on mending your spirit. And it will
show like a bright freshly scrubbed face of a youngster who has needed it for too long!
And speaking of youngster, another way to mend your heart is to take your child - or if you
haven't one, borrow a relative's or a friend's. Take that child to a playground and play. I
mean literally PLAY! Get in that swing, climb that Jungle Jim, hand walk those parallel
bars, make yourself tired from having some FUN! Listen to that child laugh and call out to
you to follow him. Then on your way back home, detour by the ice cream shop and both of
you have your favorite treat! Not only will you have lifted your own spirits, you have given
a child a remarkable day or afternoon out to be just a kid and having a great time!
A friend of mine who lost her husband very unexpectedly chose for her work going out into
the pine forest and photographing scenic views as she and Jim had done so very many
times. During that outing, she imagined him along with her, talking with him, asking him for
his 'take' on a certain aspect and thoroughly enjoyed the day alone with her now
deceased husband. She said it was some of the hardest work that she had ever done, but
she felt refreshed that evening at home. Plus an added benefit, she took some great
shots and now cherishes them. To take that premise even further, take those photographs
to a nursing home and share them with shut-ins who can't go beyond the front doors of
their homes. The appreciation you will see in their eyes can do nothing but brighten your
own.
These are only a few of the ways you can Spring-clean your spirit after a long cold winter
of grieving and will be worth much more than they have cost you to read them here. In
turn, you can pass along the experience you have gained for new insights to moving past
your grief and beginning to think in terms of 'the future' instead of looking back at a very
painful recent past.
If you ask God to guide you through these labors, He will, and you might be surprised if
you listen very closely, He might show you even more ways to move closer to Him and His
purpose for you. He will bless you and comfort you in your journey through one of His
dark paths in this mortal life as He waits for you to come Home also, even as your loved
one has.
clean up and out! You began a new year a week ago and with it, I hope you vowed to
make a new beginning. Now, why not go a little further and clean up your spiritual house
as well!
If you have recently lost a loved one and have been going through the very difficult work
of grieving that loss; maybe it's time to set some new goals, some positive goals for the
rest of your life. Never would I discount the breaking of your heart and the missing of your
loved one, but I will tell you this: God gave us only a limited time on this earth to fulfill His
purpose for our lives here. Maybe now is the time to refocus on that purpose and try to
get on with it.
I have found there are several ways to take back control of your life in the face of tragedy.
One such way is to engage in physical labor, hard work! When you're doing something
that requires muscle, there is little time to linger over heartbreak and pain. So here are
some of the ways to get into it.
Your house has been closed up for the Winter, and if it is like mine, it's more than a little
stale. It could use an airing out. Why not get out the window cleaner and make those
eyes onto the rest of the world sparkle! They not only let others view your home with
appreciation, they allow you to look out on the rest of the sparkling world! When I'm
feeling less than sparkling myself, I have found it really brightens up my spirit to see the
sunshine God has sent my way throughout the day.
Perhaps the woodwork in your home has been showing the ravages of being neglected
because of your grief. I can understand the general malaise one endures when deep in
the work of getting used to a death in the family. So get out the mop bucket, scrub brush,
soap and sponge and roll up your sleeves, then apply some good old-fashioned elbow
grease to those baseboards, door frames and cabinet fronts! Not only will you have
worked hard on your house, you have worked hard on mending your spirit. And it will
show like a bright freshly scrubbed face of a youngster who has needed it for too long!
And speaking of youngster, another way to mend your heart is to take your child - or if you
haven't one, borrow a relative's or a friend's. Take that child to a playground and play. I
mean literally PLAY! Get in that swing, climb that Jungle Jim, hand walk those parallel
bars, make yourself tired from having some FUN! Listen to that child laugh and call out to
you to follow him. Then on your way back home, detour by the ice cream shop and both of
you have your favorite treat! Not only will you have lifted your own spirits, you have given
a child a remarkable day or afternoon out to be just a kid and having a great time!
A friend of mine who lost her husband very unexpectedly chose for her work going out into
the pine forest and photographing scenic views as she and Jim had done so very many
times. During that outing, she imagined him along with her, talking with him, asking him for
his 'take' on a certain aspect and thoroughly enjoyed the day alone with her now
deceased husband. She said it was some of the hardest work that she had ever done, but
she felt refreshed that evening at home. Plus an added benefit, she took some great
shots and now cherishes them. To take that premise even further, take those photographs
to a nursing home and share them with shut-ins who can't go beyond the front doors of
their homes. The appreciation you will see in their eyes can do nothing but brighten your
own.
These are only a few of the ways you can Spring-clean your spirit after a long cold winter
of grieving and will be worth much more than they have cost you to read them here. In
turn, you can pass along the experience you have gained for new insights to moving past
your grief and beginning to think in terms of 'the future' instead of looking back at a very
painful recent past.
If you ask God to guide you through these labors, He will, and you might be surprised if
you listen very closely, He might show you even more ways to move closer to Him and His
purpose for you. He will bless you and comfort you in your journey through one of His
dark paths in this mortal life as He waits for you to come Home also, even as your loved
one has.
| A Christian Grief Ministry |
100's of Inspirational Grief Poems and Stories |