The Long Haul by Dr. Juan Harrison
The Long Haul
Recently reading about the drowning of country singer Craig Morgan’s college age son in 2016 reminded me of the anguish and pain that comes with the loss of a child. I’ve often wondered how I could go on. The divorce rate for couples losing children is high. So much guilt and what if’s can stop communication and create a great gulf between Mom and Dad.
I’ve often said God created marriage and children to help give men a purpose to live and provide for loved ones. Without someone to do for and work for a lot of us guys wouldn’t see much reason to do more than just getting by doing the minimum.
My wife and I lost our first baby Jamie, but he blessed us with two more later. A good friend, Finis, lost his only child at 7 and admirably survived and blessed many people and organizations including helping give a large contribution to build the ROC activities building for First Baptist. The natural tendency is for grief to overpower our lives for a season. The challenge is to eventually move out from under that cloud and become a role model for us meeker souls to show us God can get us through the valley. Craig Morgan’s faith has helped him survive, even penning an uplifting song, “The Father, My Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to find out if our insurance is any good. Even more importantly it may take a personal tragedy for us to find how strong our faith is and how it can get us through that dark valley under the shadow of death. These are things that we pray that others and us don’t have to experience. Life happens. As people pass, God may choose new role models to show us humans it can be done. After her husband died at an early age my friend Vonda Wright showed us how to live life with grace and optimism after suffering a great loss. Often as we would visit on her front porch, I would remind her she was my hero.
Vonda died at the end of a food run for her legally blind son and daughter-in-law who had recently suffered a stroke. A couple of hours earlier she and I were discussing some worldly issue when Vonda said, “Juan, you and I don’t have to worry about that. We know where we’re going.” Not bad for a nonagenarian surviving cancer and heart issues. We could only hope to carry that testimony to the end of our journey on the earth.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
