ENCOURAGEMENT

Last year, we lost our youngest son, Labriel. During his illness, I prayed every day for strength and wisdom from God, our Father. As my son’s health deteriorated, I continued to pray for him, for me, and for our family. While he was in the hospital the first time, I went to church on Sunday before I went to visit with him. I did not realize how hard I was praying! A song was sung during the service, and all my intense focus was lifted from me! I cried so hard! Then one of the pastors stopped singing and was led to come to me in the back of the church to hold me as I released the weight. Once released, God filled me with His Spirit to continue with what would be my darkest season!

During the preparation of my son’s celebration of life program, I asked God, not why He took my young son, but what was I to learn from this. He told me that I must tell everyone about taking their health for granted.

As I spoke at my son’s service, God’s words, His strength, and His support was present as I stood before over 200 people to deliver His message: DON’T TAKE YOUR HEALTH FOR GRANTED!

A close friend of mine, who did not go to the doctors, missed my speech. Four months later, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. She died one month before the first anniversary of Labriel’s death. Her sister, who heard the speech during my son’s program, requested that I say it again at her sister’s memorial. If one person would heed these words, maybe more people would pay more attention to their greatest commodity…their health. This is the message God sent to me, edited for my friend’s memorial:

Good Afternoon

Earl and I lost our youngest son Labriel in 2022. During his Celebration of Life ceremony, I read something that was heavy on my heart. Through our grief, it was an important message that Patsy and Allen felt needed to be repeated. This is what I said:

Earthly Loss – Heavenly Lesson

We all have had events in our lives that changed how we looked and planned for our future. These events resulted in lessons learned.

Lessons learned are experiences collected from past activities that should be actively considered in future decisions and behaviors.

The death of Labriel made me question not why he was taken, but what lesson is to be learned from it. My answer was revealed, so I am relaying to you a message that I hope you will seriously consider. That message is your health.

Don’t take your health for granted. Things can be going on within your body that could be detrimental to your health, without any signs of aches or pain. When was the last time you visited a doctor?

Even if you visit a doctor once a year, you will either validate that you are healthy, discover something is wrong and correct it, or have a maintenance plan to keep it from worsening. If you can’t afford a doctor, I am sure there are agencies that could help you with your visit.

As I look around and see all the bright, spring colors, I know that your relationship with Sylvia was full of friendship and love. If you want to honor your memory of Sylvia, don’t send flowers, don’t send gifts, don’t send money, just go visit a doctor if you haven’t within the last 12 months.

The seed has been planted. What are you going to do?