Barbara Curtis's Blog, page 29

Advent blessings

When I was very sick in 2008-2009 and we lost all,  we learned firsthand how generous people could be.  It was the first time we had ever really been on the receiving end and for all of us it was very humbling to know that God loved us so much that He would put it on people's hearts to help us...  Since Barbara died the outpouring of love, concern, kindnesses, meals, and gifts has been a continuous bubbling spring of charity in the midst of our mourning.  God has known what we needed and provided it through his loving people.
Last week before the third Sunday of Advent an anonymous act of charity happened that has personified people's love and brought the joy you see to two of my granddaughters above.  I was out working and Matt was watching the Boyz until I could get home.  When I came home he told me that an attractive young woman had come by and asked him if he was Tripp.  He said no, to which she replied, "I'm supposed to leave this here for him." There was a letter enclosed with a large bag of wrapped packages.  The letter said:
                             The Twelve Days of Christmas
Knowing that you have a huge hole in your hearts this Christmas, we would like to share the holidays with you this year.
Enclosed you will find twelve gifts, one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas-beginning on December 14th.  Each gift is labeed as to the day it is to be opened---no cheating!
Although these tokens can in no way heal your hearts, they can serve to remind you of our God, who can.  The coming year will hold reminders of your loss, tears, and pain.  But God, whose Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, will walk with you through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and when you are overwhelmed, He will carry you.  Rest in His capable arms of love.
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for your welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."   Jeremiah 29:11

Each day since we have eagerly opened the gifts....certainly not tokens.....but well thought out gifts of love.....like all the others we have received.   Though our hearts and spirits are still deeply grieved, I don't know where we would be without the love and support we have received from all of you.  Truly we see the face of our loving God in each and every act. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Talking with my Father....

"Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
                                                             Isaiah 41:10

" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."                              2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Thank you Father for your faithfulness and loving providential care for us in spite of my inadequacies and weaknesses. Thank you for the circle of love you have surrounded our family with that provides so much help, comfort, and charity.....In this Advent season of uncertainty, mourning, and worldwide tumult....You give us the surety of Hope.....truly You are Our Loving Father.




I'm talking with my father, he's talking with his son....
And I don't need to look any further for the one I have become...
He says listen to that curlew, that's a sound I love to hear...
It's a strange reflection that we look through, oh that finally finds us here...
Chorus:  In this place where life's heart thunders
             In this place where time holds still
             In this place of harmony and wonder and values not of gold fulfill
I'm walking with my father across these gentle Pertshire hills
It's timeless mysteries we gather to make the memories that we fill
He says don't fix what is not broken...no need to find what's not been lost...
It's a heavy gate we have to open...an endless field we have to cross...
Chorus
There will always be the brave one...there will be the one who turns away
With all too many things left undone and oh so much left to say
I'm talking with my father, he's talking with his son....I don't need to look any further for the one I have become..
Chorus

In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Some daze are harder than others...

I've been riding high, but i don't know why everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

It's a sunny day and i'm on my way but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.



People stand in line just to hear me cry.

I wanna know the other side

but everyone i choose only brings bad news.

Everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

People stand in line just to hear me cry.

I wanna know what's on the other side.



I've been riding high, but i don't know why cause everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

It's a sunny bright day and i'm on my way but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

Tough day today....bad news travels like wildfire...good news travels slow....So glad we know the end of the Story.....and that it ends in Glory....
In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Go tell it on the Mountain

Praying for us all to be bold as ambassadors of Christ.....
In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Support for those grieving.....

My heart like so many others is broken for those families stricken with catastrophic loss.  I know their grief must be an  overwhelming flood.  I shared with you a resource that has been shared with us called Griefshare that has been very helpful. Grieving God's Way, The Path to Lasting Hope and Healing, a suggested book from Griefshare by Margaret Brownley, had a haiku that defines some of the mourning process.
The death of a family member or friend is devastating. In fact, it can take five years or more for a person to adequately work through his or her grief, but because we live in a fast-paced society, we often sweep it under the rug or ignore it altogether. God has another plan.

Man's Way: Numb the pain
God's Way: Heal the pain

Man's Way: Don't talk about it
God's Way: Share your pain

Man's Way: Time heals
God's Way: Faith heals

Lord, teach me to embrace my grief and not fight it, so that I may experience the true healing that comes from You...Amen

In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Light in the Darkness

With these dark times in a fallen world that is turning farther and farther away from God it is important for us to remember that there is a light in the darkness....The only way Man's heart is changed from evil to good is through the One who came to save us from our sin. Neither government, laws, or legislation has ever changed a man's heart. Our Father is reminding me to share the Good News.
 In His grip,
 Papa Tripp

There is a Reason.....

Thank you Father for the gift of music....truly it is the language of the soul....

I've seen hard
times and I've been told
There isn't any wonder that I fall
Why do we
suffer, crossing off the years
There must be a reason for it all

I've
trusted in You, Jesus, to save me from my sin
Heaven is the place I call my
home
But I keep on getting caught up in this world I'm living in
And Your
voice it sometimes fades before I know

Hurtin' brings my heart to You,
crying with my need
Depending on Your love to carry me
The love that shed
His blood for all the world to see
This must be the reason for it
all

Hurtin' brings my heart to You, a fortress in the storm
When what
I wrap my heart around is gone
I give my heart so easily to the ruler of this
world
When the one who loves me most will give me all

In all the
things that cause me pain You give me eyes to see
I do believe but help my
unbelief
I've seen hard times and I've been told
There is a reason for it
all

In His grip,
Papa Tripp

42 Days later....

David said it well for me in the Psalms...."Be merciful to me Lord, for I am faint: O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.  My soul is in anguish.  How long, O Lord, how long?  Turn, O Lord, and deliver me....save me because of your unfailing love....I am weary with my sighing: every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with tears. My eye has wasted away with grief..."
Today was another step in closing a wound that may take a lifetime to heal.  Had picked up the stone I'd found by the river and had engraved for Barbara's headstone last week and decided today to go place it on her grave. Was actually planning to do it by myself, but just before leaving,  was talking to Samantha who decided to join me.
The scripture on the stone, "For He is our peace" was a prophetic one in our lives. We had chosen that verse for our wedding announcement, (which took place three months after we had met)  and was way before we were followers of Christ. Those five words of scripture became the foundation of our marriage and the inspiration to embark in a generational transition from what had been both of our family's lack of a godly heritage.  God took two loser misfits and wove a beautiful tapestry for His legacy through the peace He gave them, their children, and their children's children...
I was glad that Samantha came, for it was the first time she had been there since the burial and was pretty overwhelmed. We talked about a number of things, but at the end as I walked her back to her van, she was talking about how she'd heard people on their deathbeds are often calling out for family and how they equate that with God.  We laughed as we remembered Barbara's last name she called out was mine, because even though she had suffered the first stroke, she was vexed with how I was answering the doctor's questions regarding her past drug use....as if it really mattered.  But then it hit me what Sam had just said, and it came to me those last words that Fantine and Eponine sing as saints to Jean Valjean on his deathbed in Les Miz...
                      "To love another person is to see the face of God".........
Thank you Father for the gift you gave me in Barbara....for it was through my love for her that I finally saw Your face....
In His grip,
Papa Tripp

Grief Share.....important resource for those in mourning

                                                 [image error]
                                                              GriefShare

Thank you to all who suggested this resource.  Have signed up for their daily email which I can see will be very helpful.  There will be a group session for me to participate in the Spring.
If you or anyone you know has recently experienced the loss of a loved one please check out this resource.                                   
In His grip,
Papa Tripp

If you don't believe in miracles perhaps you've forgotten you are one....

                           

HT:  ConservCityGirl@twitter

In His grip,
Papa Tripp