Grief Quote

“I was walking along one day and smacked into this wall called hope deferred and depression and…grief.
And it wouldn’t budge.
After some time, I realized this darkness I’d found myself in was called grief.
I’d been through so much trauma, everything about me- including my body, emotions and soul, was shutting down and going into preservation mode.
I entered a season where the battle caught up with me and I realized just how badly I’d been beaten and torn up, inside and out.”
― Ashley Nikole

Grief is the Price We Pay for Love

Ah yes, “So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.”

― E.A. Bucchianeri,

Heaven Has No Regrets

“You’ve got to trust yourself.  Be gentle with yourself. And listen to yourself.

You’re the only person who can get you through this now.

You’re the only one who can survive your story, the only one who can write your future.

All you’ve got to do, when you’re ready, is stand up,
{and begin again.}”

― Tessa Shaffer

Grandchildren

Sometimes, it’s just the little things in life that help keep us going in the right direction. Just sitting and watching my grandchildren play, sing, dance and of course squabble between one another, it reminds me of how much I am truly loved and how much I truly love them.
They remind me so much of my sons, their fathers when they were that age. It brings me so much joy that I can be this blessed with such amazing loved ones.

After the loss of my husband on June 4, 2012, I didn’t know how I was going to deal with him not being around anymore and what I was supposed to do without him. The constant struggle with Grief and self-pity ruled my heart for quite a while.
I remember taking a step back, looking at my grandchildren who constantly gave me sweet hugs and kisses and showered me with so much love and thinking to myself, “These sweet little children are leading me on the path of healing!” The littlest people with the greatest, unconditional love in their hearts helped me to heal.
I love my grandchildren more than words can ever say!

Negativity

People have to work too hard to stay dark, when LIGHT is all around them, personally, physically, financially & spiritually!!

Prince Rogers Nelson – Our Prince 06/07/1958 – 04/21/2016

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer, and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist, and pianist. His father’s stage name was “Prince Rogers”. His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, which caused him to move back and forth. Prince had a troubled relationship with his step-father which eventually caused him to run away from home.

He was adopted by the Anderson family and soon after became best friends with their son, Andre Anderson (Cymone).
Together along with Charles Smith, they joined a band called Grand Central. The band later renamed themselves Champagne and were a fairly successful live band, however soon diminished.
His early music career saw the release of Prince, Dirty Mind and Controversy, which drew attention for their fusion of religious and sexual themes. He then released the popular albums 1999 and Purple Rain, cementing his superstar status with No. 1 hits like “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy.” A seven-time Grammy winner, Prince had a prodigious output that included later albums like Diamonds and Pearls, The Gold Experience and Musicology. He died on April 21, 2016, from an accidental drug overdose.

Prince’s Death
On April 21, 2016, Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota. The week prior, his plane made an emergency landing and the singer was hospitalized for what was purportedly a severe case of the flu, though reports later stated that the musician was actually given a life-saving “safe shot” for a Percocet overdose. The Carver County sheriff’s department and Midwest Medical Examiner’s office launched an investigation into the cause of death. After the autopsy was performed, his remains were cremated and his close family and friends gathered for a small, private funeral on April 23.

Almost two weeks after the musician’s death, a lawyer revealed that Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a California-based physician who specializes in treatment for those dependent upon and addicted to pain medication, had been called upon by Prince’s team to aid the musician. (The performer had undergone hip surgery some years earlier and was believed to have endured recurring discomfort while giving concerts.) Kornfeld’s son had reportedly flown to Prince’s compound to initiate the recovery process and was among those who found him dead. While Prince’s state of health at the time of his death is unknown, attorney William Mauzy said the artist “was dealing with a grave medical emergency” when Kornfeld was called, as reported by The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Prince will always be remembered as a musical genius and artist who inspired millions through his music and set an inspirational platform which others still abide by.

He was loved by so many, his death mourned by millions and his legacy will live on forever!

Barbara Bush: Phenomenal Woman!

 

The world has lost a Classy, Elegant, Beautiful and most Phenomenal woman!

Barbara Bush was born in New York City on June 8, 1925.

Her father, Marvin Pierce, was a distant descendant of 14th President of the United States Franklin  Pierce and president of the McCall Corporation, which published the well-known magazines McCall’s and Redbook. Growing up in an Episcopalian family in the bedroom community of Rye, New York, Bush was an athletic and witty child who loved — above all things — to read. She received her primary education at Rye’s Milton Public School and Rye Country Day School before going off to Ashley Hall, a boarding school in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1940.

Barbara Bush was the wife of George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993.

Married to her longtime love of 73+ years, Barbara Bush once said “I don’t fear death at all, I’ve done it all”.

The mother of six children — one of whom, a daughter, Robin, died as a child from leukemia — Barbara Bush raised her fast-growing family in the 1950s and ’60s amid the post-war boom of Texas and the whirl of politics that consumed her husband.

 

“According to Time Magazine” ‘I am still old and still in love.’ Barbara Bush paid tribute her husband a month before her death.

Even though English professor Randa Jarrar, wrote and I quote:

“Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal,” Jarrar tweeted .

“Fuck outta here with your nice words.”

I do not and will never agree with her comments, but of course, they are protected under the Freedom of Speech.

I absolutely loved and respected Barbara Bush and am saddened by the negative comments.

My own personal opinion of Barbara Bush is: She was a Unique Woman, a woman who was absolutely phenomenal, she did not bite her tongue and said what she meant and meant what she said, disciplined her sons, and grandchildren and raised them on Christian morals and standards.

Barbara Bush was said to love living in Texas.

She and her husband, George H. W. Bush shared a love for one another than can teach others of not only how to be a spouse, but a best friend, confidant, patriot and humanitarian.

This woman brought levity, love, and literacy to millions of people as well as her own family. Not only did she keep them laughing and on their toes, she also kept them studying and reaching for higher grounds. She was the true Matriarch of the Bush family and they along with millions of others will truly miss her.

Letter from Heaven: A Poem

When tomorrow starts without me,
and I’m not here to see,
if the sun should rise and find your
eyes, filled with tears for me.

I wish so much you wouldn’t cry,
the way you did today,
while thinking of the many things
we didn’t get to say.

I know how much you love me,
as much as I love you,
and each time you think of me,
I know you’ll miss me too.

When tomorrow starts without me,
don’t think we’re far apart,
for every time you think of me,
I’m right there in your heart.

`Author Unknown

Grief

Do the Dead Communicate with the Living?

I was always taught that the dead sleeps in the grave until THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST!!

The Bible says that God created the same life force, called “soul,” for both animals and man, but it is hard to see that in most English Bibles, because the translators say “soul” when the verse refers to humans, but use other English words such as “creature,” “thing,” “life,” etc., when the verse refers to animals. The soul, the life, in animals and in mankind does not “go” anywhere when the animal or person dies, it just ceases to be. Interestingly, most Christians recognize that about animals, and realize that animals do not go to heaven or “hell” when they die. Their body decays, and their soul is gone. What we need to understand is that the Bible says people and animals are alike in that when they die, their body decays and returns to dust, and their soul dies too. That is one reason why there are verses, some of which we will see in this article, that say that when a person dies, his soul is in “Sheol,” the grave or the state of being dead.

Just as the soul gives us physical life, the gift of holy spirit from God gives us spiritual life. The holy spirit inside a Christian is not like a ghost with thinking capacity on its own. The holy spirit gives spirit life to the “person,” the body animated by the soul. Our holy spirit was not alive with God before we became a Christian, thinking and rejoicing in His presence, and then somehow came into us, like a ghost possessing our body, when we got saved. Rather, the holy spirit we now have was a part of God’s great reservoir of spiritual life, of which He gave us a part when we got born again. The holy spirit is the spiritual life from God that infuses every cell of our body and, as our new spiritual nature, is part of who we are.

If we die, the holy spirit “returns” to God (Eccles. 12:7). Since God is everywhere, that most likely means that He remembers us and will re-energize our bodies with spirit at the Rapture. Another possibility is that God simply reclaims the spiritual life force He put in us. In any case, the holy spirit God gave us did not have a mind or memory before it was given to us, and it does not have one after we die. It is spiritual life, spiritual power, that we have from God. My “spirit” is not rejoicing with God after “I” die. A person is alive only as an integrated whole before he dies, and only as an integrated whole will he live again, when God raises him from the dead.

The Bible has a significant number of verses that let us know that when a person dies he is dead and awaiting the Rapture or resurrection. Many are self-explanatory, while some need some explanation to get the most from them. It is not the purpose of this short article to replace much larger books on the state of the dead, nor can we mention every verse or argument that supports the teaching that the dead are dead, or give an answer to the more difficult verses on the subject. In fact, we have tried to print only the relevant part of each Scripture section, saving space by leaving out parts of verses so it will be helpful if you read these verses in your own Bible for a more complete understanding of them in their contexts. In this article we will give some of the important verses and pieces of evidence that the dead are not alive in any form, but are awaiting being raised from the grave.

The dead are in the grave, not in heaven or “hell.”

The verse below allows us to focus our attention on the fact that the dead are dead, “sleeping” in the ground and turned back to dust. They are not alive in heaven, hell, or Paradise.

Deuteronomy 31:16 (KJV) [8]
And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers…