WHEN YOU SAY GOODBYE TO A PARENT

You are suddenly living in a whole new world. You are no longer ‘the child’ and regardless of

how long you have officially been ‘grown up’ for,

you realize you actually never were until this moment.

The shock of this adjustment will shake your very core.

When you have finally said goodbye to both your

parents, assuming you were lucky enough to have

had two. You are an orphan on this earth and that

never, ever gets easier to take no matter how old

and grey you are yourself and no matter how many

children of your own you have. You see, a part of your

body is physically connected to the people that made

it and also a part of your soul.

When they no longer live,

it is as if you are missing something practical that you

need – like a finger or an arm. Because really, you are.

You are missing your parent and that is something far

more necessary than any limb.

And yet the connection is so strong it carries on somehow,

no-one knows how exactly. But they are there. In some way,

shape or form they are still guiding you if you listen closely

enough. You can hear the words they would choose to say

to you.

You can feel the warmth of their approval, their smile when

a goal is achieved, their all-consuming love filling the air

around you when a baby is born, they haven’t met.

If you watch your children very closely you will see that

they too have a connection with your parents long after

they are gone. They will say things that resonate with you

because it brings so many memories of the parent you are

missing. They will carry on traits, thoughts and sometimes

they will even see them in their dreams. This is not

something we can explain.

Love is a very mystical and wondrous entity. It is far

better to have loved and lost than never to have loved

at all and grief, grief is the price of that love. The deeper

the love the stronger the grief. When you say goodbye

to a parent, do not forget to connect with that little girl

who still lives inside you somewhere.

Take very good care of her, for she, she will be alone

and scared. When you say goodbye to your parents,

you lose an identity, a place in the world. When the

people who put you on this earth are no longer here,

it changes everything. Look after yourself the way they

looked after you and listen out for them when you need

it the most. They never really leave.~

~Donna Ashworth

God Really Loves You

 

The little boy put on his clothes for the cold and then told his father:

"Ok dad, I'm ready"

His Dad, the pastor, said: "Ready for what?"

"Dad, it's time to go outside and distribute our flyers."

Dad replied: "Son, it's very cold outside and it's drizzling."

The child looked surprised at his father and said: "But dad, people need to know about God even on rainy days."

Dad replied, "Son, I'm not going outside in this weather."

With despair, the child said: "Dad, can I go alone? Please!"

His father waited for a moment and then said: "Son, you can go. Here are the flyers, be careful."

"Thank you, dad!"

And with this, the son went out into the rain. The 11-Year-old walked all the streets of the village, handing out the flyers to the people he saw.

After 2 hours of walking in the rain and cold and with his last flyer in his hand, he stopped at a corner to see if he saw someone to give the flyer to, but the streets were totally deserted. Then he turned to the first house he saw, walked to the front door, rang the bell several times, and waited, but no one came out.

Finally, the boy turned to leave... but something stopped him. The child turned back to the door and began to ring the bell and pound on the door strongly with his knuckles. He kept waiting. Finally, the door was opened gently.

A lady came out with a very sad look and gently asked:

"What can I do for you, son?" With radiant eyes and a bright smile, the child said: "Lady, I'm sorry if I upset you, but I just want to tell you that God really loves you and that I came to give you my last flyer, which talks about God and His great love."

The boy then gave her the flyer.

She just said, "Thank you, son, God bless you!"

Well, the next Sunday morning, the pastor was in the pulpit and when the service began he asked:

"Does someone have a testimony or something they want to share?"

Gently, in the back row of the church, an older lady stood up. When she started talking, a radiant and glorious look sprouted from her eyes:

"Nobody in this church knows me. I have never been here, even last Sunday I was not Christian.

My husband died a while ago leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday was a particularly cold and rainy day, and it was so cold and lonely in my heart that I felt I had come to the end of the road and didn't want to live anymore.

I took a chair and a rope and went up to the attic of my house. I tied a noose and the other end of the rope to the rafters of the roof; then I climbed onto the chair and put the rope around my neck.

I then stood on the chair, so alone and heartbroken, I was about to throw myself off the chair when suddenly I heard the loud sound of the door being knocked on.

So I thought: "I'll wait for a minute and whoever it is will go away."

I waited and waited, but the door knocking was getting louder and louder every time. It got so loud that I couldn't ignore it anymore.

So I wondered, who could it be?

No one ever comes to my door or comes to visit me! I released the rope from my neck and went to the door, while the bell was still ringing and the door was still being knocked on.

When I opened the door, I couldn't believe what my eyes saw, in front of my door was the most radiant and angelic child I'd ever seen. His smile, Oh, I can never describe it! The words that came out of his mouth made my heart, which had been dead so long, come back to life, when he said with the VOICE OF A CHERUBIM: "Lady, I just want to tell you that God really loves you."

"When the little angel disappeared between the cold and the rain, I closed my door and read every word of the flyer. Then I went to the attic to remove the chair and rope.

I didn't need them anymore. As you see. Now I am a happy daughter of the King. Since the direction of the boy, when he left, was to this church, I came personally to say thank you to that little angel of God who came just in time to rescue my life from an eternity in hell. And replaced it with eternity in God's presence."

Everyone cried in the church.

The Pastor came down from the pulpit to the first bench, where the little boy was sitting; he took his son in his arms and cried uncontrollably.

Don't let this message die because of tiredness or bad weather; after reading it, pass it on to others.

Remember, God's message can make a big difference in someone's life. Never be afraid to spread the love of God.

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Can I get an AMEN?

 Three Mugs of Bud

A cowboy, who just moved to Montana from Texas, walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Bud.

He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn.

When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy,

"You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it.

It would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers.

One is in Arizona, the other is in Colorado.

When we all left our home in Texas, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together.

So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar and always drinks the same way.

He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.

One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs.

All the regulars take notice and fall silent.

When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my

condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs.

"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains.

"It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."

“It hasn't affected my brothers though."