Temporary Gifts — Grateful, yet Grieving
Last week was my wedding anniversary. The date on the calendar has been etched in my brain since 1981, when I walked down the aisle. It was a day of gratitude for the years I did have, while grieving the years I didn’t get to have.
Recently, while attending a memorial service, I heard the pastor use the phrase “temporary gifts.” He attributed it to author and pastor, M. Craig Barnes, who wrote the book, “When God Interrupts: Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change” (InterVarsity Press, 1996).
As I reflected and pondered on those words, “temporary gift,” it became a reality check. I considered that my marriage was a temporary gift. My marriage vows contained the words, “till death do us part.” Life is filled with a season for everything. Like Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us, there is a “time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Further in the same chapter, these words describe God’s perspective on time; “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.”
Time is precious. People are gifts. We can appreciate both while we are here.
Anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays will always be reminders of our loss. Grief will come waving the flag, announcing the absence of our loved ones. Still, amidst the pain, we can acknowledge the temporary gift of our loved one and experience deep gratitude for what we had.
