There is a contest right now on Christian Women Online, and to enter, you must post your entry on your blog of why you and a friend deserve a girl's getaway. So, here's mine...
Eight years ago, I received the most devastating news a daughter could be given about her mother, "I'm sorry - she isn't going to make it." After hours of waiting in a quiet hospital lobby, praying, trusting, hoping, bargaining with God, my worst fear quickly became my reality and my life was forever changed. Never again would I hear my mother's laughter or the sound of her voice; never again would I be able to embrace her; never again would I be able to experience all the things a daughter should experience with her mother.
Within the days following her death, I quickly put up a wall of grief around me and buried myself in my own despair. Days passed, then weeks, then months, and slowly, I was able to crawl out of my depression and find joy again, albeit bittersweet because my mother was not there to experience it with me. I became engaged to the man of my dreams and went to pick out a wedding dress. I planned my wedding and walked down the aisle. I became pregnant and miscarried, then went on to carry and give birth to two beautiful children. I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ and was baptized.
For all of these events, most young women are able to have their mothers there to share in their joys and comfort them in their sorrows. I was not so lucky, but I was truly blessed to have the next best thing: my sister. You see, she was a daughter too, experiencing this same devastating loss, but she stepped in and carried me. She was with me when I put on that 'perfect dress' in the bridal shop. She helped plan the special details of my wedding. She comforted me when I lost my first baby, and was there when my two girls were born. She was there when I was immersed in the cleansing waters and given a new life in Christ.
She is my sister, by blood and in Christ.
So why do we need this trip? For healing, and for me to be able to thank her and my Jesus for the love she has shown me. We have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and He was with us.
One more thing... the day of the drawing is November 1st... the day my mother was called home to be with her Saviour.