Topics:<\/b> Brotherly Love; Christlikeness; Comfort; Commitment; Companionship; Faithfulness; Friendship; Grief; Mourning; Needs; Relationships; Sacrifice; Service<\/p>\n
References:<\/b> Job 2:13; Proverbs 17:17; 27:10; Ecclesiastes 4:9\u201310; John 15:13\u201314<\/p>\n
When during an already painful juncture in my life my wife died, I was so numb that I felt dead myself. In the hours after her death, as our children and I tried to figure out what to do next, how to get from hour to hour, the phone must have been ringing, but I have no recollection of it.<\/p>\n
The next morning\u2014one of those mornings when you awaken, blink to start the day, and then, a dispiriting second later, realize anew what has just happened and feel the boulder press you against the earth with such weight that you fear you will never be able to get up\u2014the phone rang, and it was Jack.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to hear any voice\u2014even his voice. I just wanted to cover myself with darkness. I knew he would be asking if there was anything he could do. But I should have known that he\u2019d already done it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in Chicago,\u201d he said. \u201cI took the first flight this morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you probably don\u2019t want to see anyone,\u201d he went on. \u201cThat\u2019s all right. I\u2019ve checked into a hotel, and I\u2019ll just sit here in case you need me to do anything. I can do whatever you want, or I can do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He meant it. He knew the best thing he could do was to be present in the same town\u2014to tell me he was there. And he did just sit there\u2014I assume he watched TV or did some work, but he waited until I gathered the strength to say I needed him. He helped me with things no man ever wants to need help with; mostly he sat with me and knew I did not require conversation, did not welcome chatter, did not need anything beyond the knowledge he was there. He brought food for my children, and by sharing my silence, he got me through those days.<\/p>\n
\u2014Bob Greene, And You Know You Should Be Glad<\/i> (Morrow, 2006)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Topics: Brotherly Love; Christlikeness; Comfort; Commitment; Companionship; Faithfulness; Friendship; Grief; Mourning; Needs; Relationships; Sacrifice; Service References: Job 2:13; Proverbs 17:17; 27:10; Ecclesiastes 4:9\u201310; John 15:13\u201314 When during an already painful juncture in my life my wife died, I was so numb that I felt dead myself. In the hours after her death, as our children … Continue reading “JUST
\n BEING THERE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}