Darlene is now an angel....

I have faced my share of losses over the past year or 2... temporary losses of course.
Death, passing, departure... for our simple minds... seems so permanent. I am a woman of faith, so I have no doubt that I will be with all of my loved ones who go before me, again in eternity. But how can our mortal minds wrap around that? They can't. But it seems God has designed a way for us to pass over the unexplainable idea and he helps us to carry on.
Darlene passed onto her eternal resting place yesterday afternoon. I wasn't sure, nor did I really think about what that would mean to me. Catching me a little off guard, it brought me to grave sadness. Not that I didn't think I would be sad... I knew I would. But my deepest heart saddened. My heart actually ached. Not for Darlene... I have envy for her... she's in a state of perfection, joyful and embraced by our heavenly Father. For her, I am not sad... its for her family. For her children. Luca understood this when, after he stood downstairs in the darkness of her home, waiting for me to say goodnight, he was brought to the same sadness. When we got in the car, he said, "Mom, I walked around the house.. of course, only where you told me to wait, but I walked around looking at pictures of the family and all their stuff. And I realized, this is really sad. She won't be here for Christmas. Her stocking won't be filled when Santa comes... she's going to miss their birthdays and weddings and all those things". He had a tear in his eye... he gets it... that is what is sad. No matter how much we comfort each other, the fact still remains... she is absent from this life. Absent for all the things that Mom's are there for. Absent of her physical being... but think about this...
We are merely a soul. A spirit that borrows a body. So, when that body is unable to be used any longer... doesn't the spirit still exist? Of course it does! It just doesn't have a mode of transportation! So what does that mean? It means that Darlene's spirit is still with us. It's still with her husband, it's still with her children... it's still with her friends. No, they can't hold her or see her, but she is still here. It does feel good to touch the things we love... I know... but God gave us a heart that can hold so much... our hearts can hold on to her while our bodies had to let go.... but for all those things that we think she'll be missing... she won't. she'll be right there for it all... Angels are among us, I truly believe that... and those angels are those we've physically lost and those we never knew... but they are here... watching over us until the day that God blesses us with our ticket HOME. In the bible, God tells us that we will be greeted by our loved ones when we enter the "pearly gates"... that means, when she arrived, her Father, her sister and her sister in law were those waiting to embrace her, for they lost her long before we did.
According to her daughter, Darlene said that she was looking forward to seeing her sister who was taken much too early. What a precious thought... she is now reunited with her sister whom she missed so much.
The children will need continued love and support and so will Scott.... but I know that God has a plan for all of them, to comfort and keep them and I know that Darlene will show them that she is still here with them, through signs... I get signs from my cousin/brother who passed away in November. The signs are the sweetest gifts... and treasures to bring us peace and comfort.
As the healing process begins.... I will pray for this family and the friends who have been so close through all of this....  I will be as much or as little as God wants me to be for them in the long run... I will always hold them all close in my heart.
I'm thankful that the Lord has led me to create an organization where lives can be enriched by other lives and that he can use me for his work.... Thank you to all who support Charity for Charity and may we continue to bless our community, following His lead....