Hello friends. I will admit that I forgot it was a leap year and did not prepare a devotional for today, but I do have two pieces of life to share with you. The first is that I welcomed my great grandson to the world this week, and am overjoyed at the addition to our family and that I have lived to be blessed to experience it. The second is that I have published “Letters For Brenda”, a book of my journey through the grief of losing my wife of fifty-six years.
As the book of Ecclesiastes states, “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). It still surprises me how closely some of those times can fall next to each other. Happiness does not soften grief, and grief does not diminish happiness, and I continue to thank God no matter the circumstances for everything He has done for me. In trying to process my grief over Brenda’s passing, I wanted someone to talk to but couldn’t imagine sharing things with anyone but Brenda, my soulmate – and she was gone.
In desperation I decided that if I couldn’t talk to her, I would write her a series of letters. Although they are deeply personal, I share them with you in hopes that they will help you process your own grief. If I have written them well, you will get in touch with your feelings while reading about mine. Hopefully you will laugh and cry over a lifetime of memories and in the process find healing and comfort.
“Letters for Brenda” is available at RichardExleyMinistriesandBooks.com and on Amazon.
The One Minute Devotion will resume tomorrow.
God Bless You All,
Pastor Richard Exley