Thinking Of My Son Joe On His 30th Birthday

Today, August 25, 2019, would be my son Joe's 30th birthday.  As I type these words, tears are falling down my face, not wanting this to be my reality. However, this is my reality. Psalm 56:8 "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book."  There will always be the questions I have- What type of job would Joe have now?  Where would Joe be living? Would Joe be married? Would he have children? Those questions will remain unanswered this side of heaven.
 I have made a choice not to focus on his death; instead, I have chosen to focus on how he lived his life while he was here for 18 years. If you would like to read previous blog posts that I have shared about my son Joe you are welcome to read them here:http://ajoyfulheartjourney.blogspot.com/2017/08/sharing-memory-of-my-son.html and here;
http://ajoyfulheartjourney.blogspot.com/2018/08/happy-birthday-to-my-son-in-heaven.html
 I think back to Joe's 4th birthday. On that morning when Joe woke up the first thing he did was, he looked at his hands, I asked him "why are you looking at your hands?' he said, "to see if they got bigger now that I turned four." This still makes me smile, it was such an innocent and precious thing to say and truly reflects the innocence of a four-year-old.
Joe wrote the following in one of my birthday cards when he was 16 years old, yes, I do tend to save things 😊
"Thank you for all you do for me. It is a blessing for me to be your son. Happy birthday, Mom. Joe". 

I had dinner with a friend recently, and I told her that I have made a choice to focus more on how Joe lived his life rather than his death. She said, "because otherwise, you would always be sad."  This is precisely why I have made this choice.
Are you missing someone that is no longer here? Do you feel it would be helpful to focus on how your loved one lived their life? I would like to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share in the comments below, or send me an email. My contact form is on the sidebar of this blog.
Thank you for visiting my small, humble blog.
With love,
Patty

Six-Word Memoirs

I have been taking time to write memoirs in my journal, using only six words to summarize my day, my life, or my week. It can sometimes be a challenge to use only six words, yet I have come to enjoy the process. Each week  I would like to offer some of my six-word memoirs.
If you would like to write a six-word memoir yourself, feel free to reply in the comments below, or you are welcome to send me an email.

So without further to do, here is my first six-word memoir:

~Lost my son, still, have faith~
Yes, indeed, I still have faith because, without faith, I would be lost entirely. 
Psalm 28: 7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song, I will praise Him.”
Thank you for visiting my small, humble blog.
With love,
Patty