Picnic Table Chats

I will never forget my time at the picnic table in Uvalde, Texas. Chara, our dog, and I hung out with a little girl I’ll call Carla. Carla wanted to show me her stress ball and helped teach me how to make “funny sounds” with the stress ball. Before long, we were both laughing as we made “funny sounds” together. Then, she showed me a heart that she had drawn in her counseling session. She shared with me her various emotions by the color she had colored: red for anger, sad for blue, and so on.

Carla was not at Robb Elementary on the day of the shooting. Her grandpa had come for the awards ceremony and pulled her out of school after that to go to Dairy Queen. Sadly, Carla lost her dear friend in the shooting.

Grief is so weird. One minute, you can be giggling like crazy “funny sounds.” The next minute, experiencing overwhelming grief. There’s no rhyme or reason to grief.

How does one make sense of the wide degree of emotions that we can experience with grief? I think we can honestly care for one another best when we realize that each human experience can be quite diverse when it comes to grief. Emotions don’t always make perfect sense. The journey of grief can be complicated and messy. It’s a time to be very kind and gentle to yourself. As we care for others, it's a time to also be very kind and gentle to those grieving.

The Bible contains a myriad of gut-wrenching emotions. Just check out the Psalms! God sees your grief and He grieves with you. He longs to be your Comforter as you grieve. He loves you so much! I love Psalm 10:14 which speaks to how God sees our grief “But, you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”

God sees your pain and grief even when you want to hide it. Psalm 34:8 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Perhaps you are brokenhearted today? Maybe crushed in spirit? God is close. He mourns as you mourn. He wants to walk with You each moment and care for your hurting soul. He will see you through.

Take a listen to this song that reminds us where we can place our hope, in life and death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPT5QEDf9bA

 
Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.