I hate getting that phone call. It causes my heart to quicken and my body to get cold and clammy upon hearing the first word of the message. There is no gabbing, no lighthearted talk… just somber news delivered swiftly.

That’s what happened when Grandma called to tell me that my childhood friend had lost her husband in a dirt biking accident. Such shocking, unexpected news left me rattled and restless grappling at the horrifying reality for everyone involved. 

After the news sank in, I mourned for my friend, her four babies and their entire family. I was flooded by memories of us swimming and growing up in the church going to youth group functions. In fact, she married her husband around the same time that Ross and I wed. 

It’s been almost two months since the incident and I’m still praying for peace and comfort for her. She’s a strong Christian woman with an amazing support system. Still, grief comes in waves and never really goes away. 

As optimistic as I try to be, sometimes it seems that all I hear is bad news – someone else has received a horrible diagnosis or lost someone special to them. Covering car wrecks and news related to abuse, mistreatment and other evils becomes tiresome.

My friend, who lost her husband, made a Facebook post last week that really resonated with me:

“Death is the devil. It is a thief. Steals our loved ones, plans, future, memories and experiences. It taints goodness. I watch my daughter walk and I am so proud, but it is tainted with sadness her Daddy will not walk her down the aisle. The sound of my son’s laughter brings me joy, but it is tainted with an emptiness that he shares the same laugh as my husband that I’m forgetting the sound of. My son and his random hugs so sweet and sincere melt my heart, but it is tainted by heartache because he learned how to hug from his daddy whose arms I want around me.”

This last part of her testimony had me feeling a combination of sad yet hopeful.

“Death is the devil. Christ died and He won. Christ rose from the grave. Christ is coming again to take away all the sorrow death taints everything with. My Dougie is not lost to me. He is waiting with his happy eyes and beautiful smile and I am giddy to see him.”

So often when tragedy strikes, believers abandon their faith. People begin looking for answers in all the wrong places in this broken world. How encouraging that in the midst of the loss of her young husband, my friend chooses to share the hope we all have in Jesus. 

I’m so grateful for those around me that have experienced hardships, but chose to glorify God through it all. You are an example to me, a light in the darkness, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. 

Standard reporter Lacy Garrison can be reached at 473-2191.