The Tribune

By Allison Miller

WE all experience traumatic things in our lives. Nevertheless, I am a firm believer that it does not matter what happens to us, but the course of action we take in dealing with these experiences is what will either make or break us.

It has been a long time since you, my readers, have heard from me. I know it looked like I would not return. However, I did not give up on writing. I was thrown a curve ball that caught me off guard.

Thus, I knew I could not stay in a defeated state of mind. My absence from this platform has been long enough. And this brings me to the reason I address you today.

About a year and a month ago I lost my dear uncle to liver cancer. It was a surreal experience until the reality of his death set in.

That reality was acknowledged when I got home from work and he was not home watching CNN or Cable 12 News.

It’s difficult to walk into a room and not have that person be there after 34 years.

I was lost and a part of me felt as if I died with him. I made an effort to keep my head above water and get by. Without realising it, I was falling into a depression.

The death of a close loved one really takes a toll on you.

I was told it would take at least two years for the healing process to start. What that means to me is it takes at least two years for you to say the person’s name without crying.

Let me tell you, God is good and He is faithful. I’ve had a specific scripture in my spirit for years – the story of the man at the pool of Bethesda; John 5:1-9.

I had heard it when a guest preacher came to our church a few years back.

It was this same scripture that the Lord used to tell me the following through a friend: “Get off your bed, stop lying there complaining, fold up your issues and trust Jesus Christ through God and live your life abundantly.”

Even though it was hard to hear that, it was the truth.

It was what I needed to get out of the slump I was in.
Do I miss my dear uncle?

Yes I do; I always will. However, what it means is I have to put into action the things that he has taught me throughout my life.

Also in honour of him I must live a life that I know he would be proud of. The man at the pool of Bethesda had all kinds of excuses until Jesus removed them and asked him, “Will thou be made whole?”

Because situations don’t play out the way we think they should, are we to act as if nothing has been done?

The man was accustomed to the angel coming once a year to “trouble” the pool.

The one who created the angel came and healed him.

Jesus told him to up pick up his bed and walk.

Whatever happens to us or has happened. we have to use it to make us rather than break us. Remember we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

I can’t use my uncle’s death as an excuse to fail in life or even to be depressed. The reality is I miss him sorely and when I think about him tears come to my eyes.

Nevertheless, through God’s grace I will prevail, because greater is He who is in me than he that is in the world.

(Thank you Trevor! Where would people like me be without friends like you.)