Excerpt from a Kindred Interview, Pt. 2

Here's the other part of the interview that really touched me...

"Linda, can you briefly tell me how Phil died, because I have not yet met this man?

He was not ill, that we knew. In the evening he'd settled down to watch baseball, which you know he loved, had his pizza there, his Bible in his lap. Phil got up and walked to me in the office, and collapsed in my arms. I knew he had gone to the Lord then, but they took him to the hospital in the routine, not very pleasant manner that happens when there is a sudden death at home. That was July 29, 2008.

Do people often ask you how you get through this? From one viewpoint, you had no preparation for losing him, but yet you had a mature faith in Christ which is a life-preserver for any event.

I hold 3 tenets that best sum up my life before Christ:

1. I am resolute in my commitment to His inspired, Holy Word and its many Truths.

2. I am confident in His perfect timing.

3. And I am content in my circumstance because of the first two tenets, and because of Christ Jesus' continuing mercy and grace upon me.

My point is this, when we accept God's authority we release His power into our lives. He is the object and the focus of my faith. It is not about quantity of faith, but qualification of faith, which is in and from Him.

Turning to Jesus Christ - that has been the nature of my walk these 30+ years, with my husband, and now solely with Him. To do anything different based on feelings or circumstance would truly not glorify and give honor to Him.

This loss I have experienced is not void of feelings. I remind myself that Christ gave us feelings. It is part of our humanness. Christ, Himself, exhibited His feelings when He walked in the flesh. He wept and grieved over this fallen world (John 11:35). I weep and grieve over the loss of my husband, but not as one without hope. I can and do rejoice for the wonderful life God has given Phil.

Since Phil's death, everything that could go wrong, has. I am living on the solid Word of God and His promises are magnified in my life. ...Philippians 4:6,7 in particular sums up my walk before Him, which has grown deeper and more broad than I could have ever imagined.

The peace of God that transcends all understanding guards my heart and mind in Christ. I turn to our Lord with gratitude, and thanksgiving and in turn He guards my heart and mind, and my soul sings. I am confident in approaching God because I know He hears my prayers (1 John 5:14)."

What a beautiful example of resting in the Lord's embrace.