I painted this picture of three lilies from my garden for my Aunt Sonja. I call it “Three Sisters”, after her, my mom, and my Aunt Dawn. Notice each have three white stripes in their petals, and two of the lilies are higher up than the third. My Mom and Aunt Dawn have both gone to heaven (so “higher up”), and I believe are waiting to welcome her there one day. 

Are you grieving the loss of a loved one? My favorite definition of “grief” is love that has no place to go. No matter how hard you want to give it, it hits a wall. I believe this is how the Holy Spirit must feel sometimes as well whenever we grieve Him in some way. We hold a hand up, essentially refusing all the love He has to pour out on us. It puts grieving him and grieving others in a whole new light.

As far as my mom and Aunt Dawn, I will always grieve them as long as I’m here in this life because the “wall” my love keeps hitting is called death. But the beautiful thing is, for anyone who accepts the free gift of relationship with Jesus, and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross, the wall vanishes the moment we shed this earthly body like a robe of flesh. Mom and Aunt Dawn are already there, and I know they will be waiting on the other side for me, too.