November 2014 - Turning the Page on Suicide | Turning the Page on Suicide

Monthly Archives: November 2014

Remembering to Give Thanks

Posted November 24, 2014 | Karisa Moore

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

My name is Greek, and it means grace or thanksgiving. This morning as I was hunting, once again, for my daughter’s glasses I wasn’t very filled with grace. Peter reminds me that these earthly moments will… come to an end, what lasting impression do I want to leave on my daughter and son? This morning could I have covered her messy room and buried glasses with a grace filled attitude? I was certainly grumbling. To love earnestly means that my energy is burning brightly; some translation use the word fervently.

So where is all our energy spent, is it in noticing all the negatives in our lives, or the hurts others have caused or is it in giving thanks for all that we’ve been given, and that we don’t have to share this journey alone? Do we celebrate the fact that our cups overflow, and our bellies are full. Do we notice that we have warm clothes and a pillow to lay our weary head?

Celebrate each other, and be filled with hospitality towards one another as you spend time with family.

Out of love springs humility. Through grace I develop awareness of my generous God, then the slights experienced, or my daughter’s lost glasses are minor in comparison! Besides, I seem to remember a brown-haired girl thirty-two years ago who buried her glasses under her stuffed animals a time or two.

Holy Kiss Bat Man: Greeting one another with the depth of God’s love

Posted November 23, 2014 | Karisa Moore

2 Corinthians 13:11Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13All the saints greet you.

When was the last time you greeted someone with a holy kiss? A bit awkward in our present day social norms. Kiss aside, do we greet each other with the fullness of God’s love? I have been in many churches and there is a marked difference in those who are intimately acquainted and simple love worshiping with each other, verses those who worship on Sundays and have no relationship outside the church walls.

What a mighty work of the Lord, that so many different personalities could love worshiping together. I feel like I have gotten to knowÂ my church family betterÂ as they have embraced me, and comforted us, in the loss of our son. My shyness kicks in on Sundays during the greeting time, but I am determined to change that. When we meet, I want it be a moment that Christ love for you is clearly evident! I encourage you this week to step out in faith and fully be present with those around you. May your family, neighbors and coworkers become aware that the twinkle in your eye is the joy of Christ’s presence in your life. A joy that is all the stronger as we build each other up in faith.

What is in Your Hands?: Opening our hands to God’s great gifts

Posted November 20, 2014 | Karisa Moore

What is in your hands? A common question from parents, seeing their children clenching a object tightly in a effort to hide it. As I grieve I have to be careful not to hold on to tightly to my children, my husband, or objects of remembrance.

We are headed into seasons Jonathan has always been an intricate part of. He loved Christmas! Before Daniel and Natalie were on the scene he was the one getting all the adults up to come down for presents. In recent years …he has helped me paint a football field in the yard as part of Daniel’s present. We would come out after lunch Christmas day and play a game.

So today I reveal to my heavenly father what is in my hands. I am holding so tightly to the fact that Jonathan should be here that I’m missing out on creating new memories with Daniel and Natalie. I open my hands to the new gifts God wants to bring to my family this year.

Today we start a new Christmas tradition. Can’t tell you, its a surprise! Just know that it will be filled with love, joy, and peace, especially wrapped for you! What are you holding on to this Thanksgiving and Christmas? Can we open our hands and allow God to give us far greater than anything we hold tightly to?

Hope is a Purple Tulip

Posted November 19, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Hope is a purple tulip brush stroked into a pallet of dreary grey;
Drawing our focus to the possibilities.
Hope grows in the cracks of my doubts,…
Surprising my life with defiant perseverance.
Hope is the cup of water held out to a runner,
when the finish line is painfully out of sight.
Hope is the cheer of friends
Reminding me that I am not alone.
Hope dusts off the truth of our purpose,
And reveals the treasures beneath our grief.

Depression is a Terrible Interior Decorater: Inviting in Hope to change my thinking

Posted November 18, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Sometimes we wake up already overwhelmed by life. In Daniel’s mind there is still snow on the ground ergo no school. The roads are well cleared. He refused to accept that he had to go to school. Truth didn’t matter, presenting the school closings to his eyes did not dissuade his mind.

We can behave the same with depression. Depression should never be hired as an interior decorator! It will always paint the walls black and put up pictures that reflect itself, n…ot the truth about our identity. For the longest time I let depression have free reign in my spirit. It was no wonder I found myself in a windowless cell where all I could see were the things that reinforced what I already believed about myself. There was no hope.

No matter how many outside forces may be pushing in on us, we always have a choice. It starts with inviting hope in. I am currently decorating with hope! I used to invite depression in like it would comfort me. But since I have experienced the source of all hope, depression can come knocking, as it often does when tragedy strikes, but I am different.

My soul’s walls are painted with:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Psalm 43 (all)

I now have the strength to take every thought captive and make it obedience to Christ.

It started with inviting hope in. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

This verse was the first light in my darkened cell and it showed me that I don’t want to live like this any more!

Posted | Karisa Moore

Isaiah 55:10:9-11 â€¦9″For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. 10″For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.â€¦

You are as unique as each delicate snowflake that adorns our morning. The Lord will accomplish all that he has in mind for us!

I am struck by the amazing creative provision in all we experience each day. Our minds, our hearts, the wonder of snow laced trees. God has a storehouse that we can never come to the end of.

He also creates for our pleasure! From six to ten my family lived just outside of Chicago. Snow was our world! We bundled into snow suits and spent the day sledding, building forts, and amazing snowball fights.

Rather than starting your day, as I have, groaning at the wet frozen stuff that makes commutes a bit longer, and ensures a wet house, why not remember that God provides. What creative ways has God provided for you today or as a stone of remembrance from your past?

Anger is a Natural Emotion, Wrath is Not

Posted November 15, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Romans 12:18-19 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

My last session of Biblical Counseling Training started last night. I was trucking along just fine listening to the speakers until the topic of anger began to be discussed. Anger and I go way back and God has done so much healing in this area.

Make room for the wrath of God, “don’t play God”. I was caught off guard by how much the statement about God’s wrath got into the crevices and pulled out anger that I didn’t consciously acknowledge. I sat there with tears pouring down my cheeks. Many of you are well aware that there are those who are responsible for Jonathan’s death. You struggle along side me to forgive, to not wish them ill, and to pray for them.

At moments I have felt the deep freedom of forgiveness and been moved with compassion for my enemy’s brokenness. But to be honest, I stew, I dwell, and plot, trying to do God’s job for him. I want revenge! That is what came to the surface last night. I’ve shared before that I came to the point 10 years ago that I admitted that I did not believe that God was just. This is one more step in the process of accepting that he is God, and I am not. My job is to love the Lord God with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself. This means providing for, extending grace, and praying for those that God puts in my path. This is the best way to display his glory and accept his goodness to me. Thank you Lord for not treating me like my sins deserve.

Grandma’s Perseverance Lessons

Posted November 14, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Psalm 105:8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations . . .

My grandmother on my father’s side laughed like a teenage girl. I loved to hear her giggle. One summer I got to spend several weeks with her and heard stories that she never shared with me before. Behind that giggle was a whole lot of suffering. It was impressed upon me that she had a resilience, that at sixteen I did not have, but longed for.

…

Grandma’s father died when she was a little girl and when her mother remarried her step-father wasn’t so interested in the baggage of a daughter. So my grandmother was passed from relative to relative until her siblings started arriving and then she was brought back home to be a babysitter. She did not hold a grudge! When she was older three of her sisters died because they got caught in a whirlpool and drowned. My grandmother, who could not swim, stood on the shore and watched the whole devastating moment. She lived through the great depression, wars, and a husband who was a very harsh and unforgiving man. As a grandfather he had softened and I only caught glimpses of his stubbornness. She loved him with every fiber of her being and I got to witness that love. She lost a grandson, whom lived with her for a while when his own parents discarded him, and then suffered, like me, the loss of him through suicide.

Yet, despite all of these experiences, she laughed and celebrated life to the fullest. She shared her faith with me at a little white church in the country. She played cards with me and taught me how to make butter milk toast when she was sick. I loved her tea, her stories and everything about this five foot nothing, curly red haired, now turned grey with wisdom grandmother.

I was always struck by her quiet perseverance. As I persevere through my own loss and tragedies, I too learn to laugh, celebrate and live life to the fullest, what ever circumstances may come. Thank you grandma!

The Shortest Route through Grief

Posted November 13, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Turn the Page:

Proverbs 3:5-7Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6In all your ways acknowledge him,…
and he will make straight your paths.
7Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Simple is a loaded word. It carries the weight of my desires, failures, and pleasures. I have complained a lot, through the years, when things break down, or seem to take too long. “Why can’t things be more simple?” Obviously, grief is no exception to the rule. We must go through it if we want to live life to the fullest. If there were a short cut through suffering and loss, I’d take it.

But scripture states clearly that there is! The shortest route between two points is obedience to God. For all of my complaining I am my own worst enemy when it comes to simplifying life. What makes my life more complicated is sin. I don’t want to go through suffering, so I have tried to avoid it, medicate it with alcohol, bad relationships, and running away or fighting my way through. None of which have ever worked. God has offered all of us a shortcut through Christ.

Since the moment the officer arrived on my doorstep with the nightmare of Jonathan’s death I have had a choice. Do I go through grief my way, or God’s way? He told us we would suffer and grieve in this life, but he also promised us that we would be comforted. The short cut is to love the Lord my God with all of my soul, heart, and mind. To lean not on my own understanding, but to acknowledge him in all my ways. God will make my paths straight!

By no means have I fully accomplished this, but it is my goal. When I accomplish the above command, I will go through this grief the shortest route possible and be comforted along the way to boot. Grief will be but a speck! It is when I disobey God and go my own way that things get more complex. Just ask the Israelites who spent forty years wandering through the wilderness when they had had God himself leading the way! If I want a shortcut through grief then I’ll keep my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith.

New Mercies: A room of possibilities

Posted November 12, 2014 | Karisa Moore

Turn the Page:

Lamentations 3:21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

…

22The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24â€œThe Lord is my portion,â€ says my soul,
â€œtherefore I will hope in him.â€

Jeremiah the prophet knew how to mourn. He wrote a whole book on grief. Josiah, the one good king who tried to restore Israel to its faith, is dead. Not a single king after him follows God and Israel is plunged into political and religious decay. Jerusalem has Babylon knocking at its door and the surrounding verses reflect Jeremiah’s own personal grief. In verse 1 he states: I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. . .Like many of us he puts the bad in his life back on his creator. And certainly God allows bad things to happen in our lives. Babylon got in because Israel had long since turned their back on God.

Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet, shy and timid, and yet God used him to do mighty things. He certainly is living in difficult circumstances, but he reminds himself that God is not limited by our circumstances. He will give us a new day!

I mourned as I removed the pictures and things that made this originally Jonathan’s room (before we needed a pink room). I acknowledge the reality of my circumstances. This morning we start with a blank slate and the joy of blessing Daniel reminded me of all the spectacular new days that God gives before me. His mercies never come to an end!

So, as I grieve, as I paint, as I celebrate Daniel today, I remember that God is my portion and therefore I hope in Him!

Grief and Hope

Monthly Archives: November 2014

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