One summer I took my family to Pike's Peak in Colorado. Our van had a wonderful compass to tell us which way we were going, and that compass had helped us a lot up to that point in our two-week trip. The road up to Pike's Peak is full of sharp curves, switchbacks, and steep drops off the side of the road. Along the way up the mountain we noticed that the compass was desperately trying to keep up, but by the time it caught up, we were already rounding the next curve, and it was suddenly displaying the wrong direction.
In some ways, the grief process can be like this. There are various "stages" of grief, but a grieving widow(er) will move back and forth through these stages at unpredictable moments. Our mental compass cannot keep up with the curves and switchbacks along the crazy road of grief.Sudden flashes of anger. Bursting into tears in the middle of the grocery store. Overwhelming and unexplainable moments of fear. Wondering if maybe this is all a bad dream and your spouse will suddenly show up alive and well. Grief brings a crazy mix of unpredictable emotions!
Sometimes we just have to hang on through the strange and unpredictable ride. I would offer you these words of comfort: You're not going crazy - you're grieving.
This is a very good analogy of what I'm experiencing.As a new young widow my husband Bob died this January and my feelings and emotions have been taking a lot of curves. At first the road seemed pretty straight he had a long illness and I grieved during that process when he passed it seem to be a great relief for him and for me and I was clinging to the Lord and felt peace for quite some time but now that it's been six months for some reason my emotions have just taken a curve. He was a strong believer in the Lord and we were both watching the signs of the times together for the last 35 years. I just never expected to be watching alone! I know time is short and will be together soon but for some reason my heart is just grieving and it's hard to stop. I'm waiting for the next straightaway around the bend. Thank you for your ministry.
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