Grief

I'm feeling quite shaken and saddened by the news that a good friend of mine was murdered last Sunday by her son. She was just a year older than me and we were in the same cell group in church. MJ had a hard life to say the least. She married early and it was a marriage filled with abuse and violence until she plucked up the courage to leave. She even gave away her youngest child for adoption because she couldn't bring herself to abort him like her husband wanted her to. MJ also was dogged by poor health and struggled financially. Yet her faith in God was strong and no matter how hard life was for her, she never doubted the goodness of God.

At the wake yesterday, I was struck by how her children had grown and it brought a fresh realisation of just how many years had lapsed. We were a group of 4 women in that cell group 3 decades ago and I've not been in another cell group since where we shared our lives with such intimacy and trust. We had been led by an American missionary, but when she left, we struggled to keep going. Eventually I moved and lost touch with them. I'm grateful that MJ's sister and another of my friends from that cell had taken the trouble to track me down. I had not read the papers in a week and had not seen the report of the murder nor the obituary. I'm thankful I had a chance to pay my last respects and to grieve. 

Many times when I had been overwhelmed by my life struggles, I had thought of MJ. My troubles pale beside hers and I know of no other woman who has been as strong as her. Many times I have heard MJ say she wishes she could go Home. She finally has.