A family is forever

“I never said it would be easy I only said it would be worth it” 

Life is hard. It is difficult and painful. Sometimes it seems cruel and unfair and we feel that the weight of all our trials is simply too heavy for us to bare. Some of us go through trials that are so heavy they bring us to our knees, mentally, spiritually and sometimes even physically.  Life is a journey. It is a journey we are all taking. While no two journeys will be the same there are some trials we will all, at some point in our lifetime, go through. We will all have to face the trial of losing someone that we love. We will all feel grief, sorrow and pain. We will feel anger and some of us will feel that our trials are unjust and that justice is missing from the world and our lives.

All of those feelings are justified. Trials, by their very definition are hard but I truly believe that they are in some way worth it. Our trials, though painful and difficult at the time, help us to grow. They teach us things that we didn’t know about ourselves and others. They remind us of not just who we are but who’s.

There are no words, scriptures or a specific amount of hugs that can take away the pain of losing a loved one. As religious as I am I know that faith itself is not a magic cure. It does not take the hurt away, what it does do however is give us hope. Hope that this is NOT the end. That death is simply the start of a new and final chapter in someone’s journey. That a family is eternal. I can only imagine what a wonderful experience it will be to live with those we love and all those we have lost forever.  To live in a place and a time where goodbyes no longer exist. What a wonderful blessing that is.

So yes trials are hard, losing a loved one is probably the most painful of them all but I take comfort in the knowledge that a family is forever. I know that everything I feel I do not feel alone. The saviour has already felt my pain, my anguish. He has already cried the tears I cry. He knows. He knows my pain. He knows me. “You may cry out no one understands, no one knows, but the son of God perfectly knows and understands. He can reach out, touch and strengthen” (David A Bednar)

This life is not meant to be easy but we are promised that it will be worth it. Death is not the end it is simply a new beginning.