Every time another soul is lost lately, my mind is caught up in the thought that God is building an Army. Each time I feel the need to write about it but I hesitate. You see each time I'm concerned about my dear friends who are going through deep pain. The idea of writing about their loss feels insensitive. Each time it happens I feel like it will appear that I am writing about my friend's loss and it is just not my story to write. Today the spirit hit me hard and said I needed to write. Please know that if you are my friend and have lost someone dear, in the last year especially, that your loss has touched me deeply and you have been in my thoughts and prayers.
I hope that you know I love you!
Perhaps you will allow me to draw from my own knowledge of death and loss. I am well acquainted with death. From the time I was born I heard of my beloved uncle who my family lost 6 years earlier. Early on, great grandparents passed and we were grateful for the long life they had lived. Then came the unexpected. My Aunt and Uncle and their 4 boys were in a car accident on their way to the LDS temple to perform baptisms for the dead. I recall there were many miracles that surrounded that loss. I heard many of them but was only seven-years-old so the details I do not recall.
Fast forward to the age of 15. I lost 3 of my 4 living grandparents. That was a tough year for my family 26 years ago. I've since lost aunts, uncles, cousins and even some dear friends. The hardest loss of those was that of a dear friend from high school. We'd had babies together and worked through some mental health challenges together and remainded close friends. I tell you this so you know, while I don't know the pain each one of you are going through or have gone through I hope you at least know that I understand what it is to grieve.
I also know what it is to need to feel close to someone I have lost. I know what it is to have their spirit there close in my moment of need. I know what it is to feel of an angels presence. I know that our dear ones are not gone forever, but they are only gone for a moment of eternity. I know of stories, that are not my own to share, that have taught me that those who are not here in body are definitely here in spirit doing the work of the Lord. That is why I know that God is building an army.
The thought comes with so much strength each time I cry for a friend who has lost a loved one. In the last 18 months I have watched a grandpa, 4 fathers (two of which were also grandpas and one of which is my uncle), two mothers (one whose family is grown and the other whose family is very young) and a friend's son return to their heavenly home. Each time the thought has come that God is building an army. I have watched so many friends post about their losses and the thought is there again. My friends, I believe that in these days of difficulty, God is in need of angels to flood the earth. These angels do so much good in these times of need.
They are our protectors...
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