Growing up in my family home, there was a plaque on the wall. In one house, it was right by the front door. It’s words were a reminder to me as I walked out on my day, usually school. It said:

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm 34:8 (NKJ)

I haven’t seen those words on that ceramic plate for a long time, yet I can still  see it. I researched different translations of that verse and like what The Message says:

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

Run to Him….

Jim and I together work with people who are going through the loss of a loved one in death. When they come to the first meeting, they’re so broken, they can barely speak about the loss they’re going through. As the weeks go by, they are able to speak of the person who died. They are able to participate and talk about the emotions they’re going through. How their brains just don’t work right. How their emotions are wild. How their loss is deeper than they ever thought. How the journey of grief seems unending.

Going through this kind of loss—death—is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever gone through. Losing my best friend at age eighteen was extremely difficult. But during the loss, I found I was not alone. That God who was good–was with me while I grappled with the loss of Karen.

It was extremely difficult when they told me at 34 weeks of pregnancy, that my baby was dead. Again, I felt the warm and loving presence of my Savior. It took a long time to heal from that loss. Sometimes even now, I’ll shed a tear for the little girl I never got to see and hold.

Going through a period of about ten years of extreme difficulty in my marriage was almost harder than death. I say that to you, who haven’t lost a spouse in death, but in divorce. We didn’t divorce, but we were very close to it. There were days when I wanted to die rather than try to cope with the clashing personalities between us. We finally resolved those differences and learned to live with each other. The last twenty years of our marriage were good and when he died, it was so hard—like some of the mountain climbs we’d done together. The struggle up the rocky path at the lower elevation, trying to get my breath and rhythm of the climb. Closer to the top, we encountered the slippery shale where when you take a step, you slide back down where you started the step. Yet, I discovered the terrible loss of a lifetime mate who was the father of my children, was far more difficult than any mountain we’d ever climbed. I remembered those words on the wall by the door in my childhood door: Blessed are you who run to Him.  I remembered, and believed. I worked through those lonely harsh days of loss—because grief is work—and began to breathe freely again, just like after a mountain climb and you get to the top.

I met another man and we married. It was wonderful. Probably more wonderful than the first time I’d married, because we each had lost our mates and we knew the terrible yawning loneliness of not having our loved one with us any longer. The joy we experienced was like being on top of the mountain after a long slog upward. The view was fantastic. We were so happy together and then, he died suddenly and I was thrown into the terrible morass of death and loss again. Sometimes it felt like the grief was so bad I didn’t think my heart would beat again. But it did. Those words hit me again—especially the last part, blessed are you who run to Him. Yes. I was widowed, but God gave us a gift of love and joy I’ll never forget. The healing of my heart took time. Years.

Unbelievably, God blessed me with another wonderful man who loves and cherishes me. We’ve experienced joy that is hard to explain. Do I fear losing this man? Of course, why wouldn’t I? But I know I can trust God to care for me in life or in death. I will take this joy and enjoy the days God gives us together.

God is good and brings JOY!

You might not experience the joy of meeting another mate in this lifetime as I did, but you still have access just as I do to the LORD of the Universe, the Savior of the world, the good God. I can tell you from personal experience that He is good. Taste. Open your eyes. Run to Him. You won’t regret it.

Taste and see