This week, I've been grieving the death of a dear friend and counselor. Her life touched mine so deeply during the time our paths crossed.
In many ways she was a mentor for me. She had been on the journey to wholeness a much longer time and had won many victories along the way. Because she had overcome through the power and care of the Lord, I knew I could too. She listened to my struggles and offered encouragement and wonderful hugs.
I like to think of her as a kindred spirit for we had very much in common - even our wedding anniversaries were on the same day. We also shared a deep love for Jesus and a desire to minister to hurting women.
She taught me how to touch lives, how to make a difference by sharing of my story. By listening, she helped me find my voice. Though our paths only crossed for a short season, her life impacted mine for eternity.
I haven't seen her for a long time, but when I learned of her death, the pain was as fresh as though I'd just seen her yesterday.
We will renew our friendship in heaven, but for now, I'll treasure the memories of this woman of God who held out her hand to me and helped me over some of the roughest places in my life.
Lord, help me to extend my hand to others who are in the rough places of recovery from the hurts of life, just like Penny did for me. Amen.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.
I am sorry for your loss. People do enter our lives, sometimes for short seasons but with tremendous eternal impact. God blessed you richly with this friend--can you really imagine what the Heavenly reunion will be like?! She'll learn of the many people whose lives you touched because she touched and encouraged yours!
Last summer, 4 months a part, I lost 2 dear friends of more than 30 years. They both had a profound impact on my life. I wrote about them in Legacy Lives; if you like, you can read it by going to: http://alifeinspired.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html and scrolling down to Nov 13 post.
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