This quarter has been filled with joy and loss. The joy was watching the Lord move in the Philippines during orientation to the new Cebuano app-based trauma healing program. See below for more details on that. Unfortunately, the day I returned from the Philippines, my grandmother was hospitalized. She died less than two days later. This was very unexpected as her health had considerably improved recently. I was with her when she went to be with the Lord on the morning of March 30th, reading Psalm 23. I cannot begin to tell you how hard this loss is in so many different ways, as she has been the matriarch of our family. She is the one who instilled a love of travel in me when she bravely and single-handedly took five grandchildren on various vacations when we were younger. Thankfully, we have time to work through her house, but for my mom, this adds more layers of loss as she always thought she would be doing this someday with her sisters. And both of them have died in the last five years. We know the Lord is walking with us, but nonetheless, the numbness and pain are real and compounded by the previous losses. Unfortunately, two weeks later, my sister-in-law's mom, Ann, unexpectedly died of a heart attack. My brother, Shaun, and sister-in-law, Casandra, have been married for four years; however, our families have been connected in various ways for the past 20 years. We had just seen Ann at my grandma's funeral. And 3 weeks after that, I experienced news of another loss, Will Brown. I have known Will and his wife, Phyllis, for 24 years since we worked together at a residential treatment facility for teen girls. Phyllis was my boss and the Director of Treatment, and Will was one of the teachers. They were one of my very first partners in ministry in 2007 and have been a part of my team since, even advocating for their church to partner with me. Ministry is hard, and knowing you have faithful cheerleaders on your side is valuable. Will was one of my biggest ones through these years. In 7 weeks, I experienced 3 losses amidst other challenging circumstances that I am choosing not to share at this time. May is filled with anniversaries as well, such as 20 years since my sister died and 11 years since the break-in. It has been a really tough quarter. I am guessing you are wondering how I am doing, which leads me to share a few thoughts on what has been helpful and not helpful for me personally during this time (others may say something totally different). Here are a few things that have not been helpful:
While navigating loss, there are still some highlights for this quarter:
Misty Prayer requests:
Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2024? There are 2 ways you may donate to Misty at Ministry Care. You can make checks payable to “Ministry Care” and send them to:
Ministry Care 14934 Pacer Ct. Carmel, IN 46032 Or you can also make an online donation, using Givelify, on our website at www.ministrycareinternational.org Ministry Care is a 501c3 therefore your donation will be tax-deductible. If you have any questions feel free to email us at [email protected]
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AuthorMisty Bodkins has a Master's degree in clinical psychology. She has worked both stateside and internationally doing counseling, training, teaching, and research. Her passion is working with people who are in crisis. Archives
October 2024
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