When the time comes

To say good-bye –

I hope you’ll be brave.

 

Brave enough

To cry the tears

That show all the love

Welled up in your heart.

 

Brave enough

To hold her close

One last time

Here on earth.

 

Brave enough

To share the grieving

With those

Who are close.

 

But also –

Brave enough

To know

This is not the end.

 

Brave enough

To know

Death is not the victor,

And this good-bye

Is not forever.

 

Brave enough

To remember

That the sting of death

Is sin –

 

And Jesus

Has won the victory

Over that sting

Forever.

 

Be brave, my love –

Even as your heart

Feels torn to shreds,

And your eyes

Burn with the heat

Of this good-bye.

 

For one day,

We will meet again

On the shores of eternity

Where good-byes are no more,

The sin-racked bodies are perfected,

And we will live together

In the light of His glory and grace.

 

Until that day,

I’ll keep you

Dear to my heart –

Your memory

Helping me be braver

Every day.

 

And for you, my dear one –

Be brave as you leave us,

As you fly into the arms of Jesus.

He has so much beauty

Waiting in store for you.

 

This world is not

Your final home.

And we were so blessed

To have you given to us

For as long as we did –

 

To make our worlds

So much more beautiful,

And more cheerful,

And more beloved.

 

May we both

Be given the bravery

To walk forward

As the veil separates us.

 

And though my heart yearns

To hear your voice once more,

May it now serenade the Savior

In far sweeter tunes

Than ever this earth has heard.

 

May He give us the bravery

We need

For each new day

As it comes,

 

So that we may live this life

For His glory,

And slip with readiness

Into His presence

When the time comes

For Him

To call us home.

 

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash.