This weekend I have walked with giants.
It looked like any other "convention" which are commonly held in hotels everywhere around the U.S., but I assure you, there was nothing common about this gathering.
I am way too tired to talk much about the weekend,..just got home a hour or so ago, but I'm telling you readers out there, that I am plumb chock full of inspiration! There's no telling what you will read on this blog for the next few weeks, but most of it will have been inspired by the other moms and dads I was with at the 2008 National Bereaved Parents Gathering in St. Louis.
Nobody ever wants to be a member of our gathering.
Most of us never knew it existed until we had a child die.
We lived through the nightmare and have been forced not just to survive,... but to re-enter life.
This weekend was an excellent reminder that we are not supposed to just exist in our pain,..we are to thrive in it.
Hundreds of us, strangers,...friends,....artists,....speakers,...writers,....silent,.... homemakers,...professionals,....non-professionals,...all shapes and sizes,..and all personality types (Lions, Beavers, Otters, and Golden Retrievers!).
All of our differences simply fall away as we share our common pain. Tears flow freely, and the embraces are tight.
Both are healing.
But do we just share pain?
Good grief, of course not!
Who in their right mind would attend a gathering like that?!
We meet to arm ourselves with encouragement and skills.
We come home from a meeting like ours reminded that our lives are to be lived with passion and honor.
We are a group that believes Heaven and it's occupants are very very near.
So,..when I catch up on a few hours of sleep,...I will share a few things that are on my little mind.
Until then,....I will be dreaming and thinking of Angels and Giants.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
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2 comments:
Becky,
It was wonderful to see you again over the weekend. Last year, my first year to qualify as a member of BPUSA, you were so kind to me. When we got to the conference this year, I knew we had a friend there. You are so right, every hug is tight and authentic and welcome at that gathering! You continue to inspire me. I am committed to using my lion & beaver combination personality to help others, not step on them! Love, Nora Suter
I love what you wrote here. I was inspired by you as well this weekend Becky. I thought of you today, and all the new friends i made at the conference when i read my daily devotion from Henri Nouwen this morning:
Being Broken
Jesus was broken on the cross. He lived his suffering and death not as an evil to avoid at all costs, but as a mission to embrace. We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts, broken minds or broken spirits. We suffer from broken relationships.
How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as he embraced the cross and live it as part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it under God's blessing for our purification and sanctification. Thus our brokenness can become a gateway to new life.
In a way, this past weekend, we took our brokenness...our grief...and put it under God's blessing for purification and sancification...together as a family of bereaved parents.
Blessings to you-(from another combination leo & beaver personality!!!) Suzanne Tucker
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