A Tough Weekend

This weekend was another tough weekend. My husband had a three day weekend, which was simply delightful in that regard. However, it was a tough one.
We sailed along mostly smooth sails, with a few moments of waves last week. Then, this weekend we were caught in a storm of grief and bounced around all over the place and we both thought we would drown at times. But, we tried to remember our ultimate LifeSaver, the One who is in control of the storms and who creates the storms.
Grief is a strange thing. You just never know when the waves of grief might hit or if they become so strong the waves produce a storm.
How long is grief supposed to last?
My husband and I both have counseling backgrounds and know grief and loss and how to walk people through it, let me add. Therefore, you have context for these next statements:
We have learned through experience how time does not heal all wounds. This is a lie and don't let anyone tell you differently. {We have told folks this in counseling and then we quickly add...} But, time is a great teacher and it teaches us how to live life with the pain and how to make the pain a companion and not an enemy.
We have also counseled people to do their proper grief work and wallow in it as much as possible for three days or so and then start to slowly pick up the pieces.
However, we add, there will be times... Times that you don't see coming... Times that might make sense whatsoever, triggered by what you may perceive as silly at the time... Times that you have to start all over with your grief work. It happens. Don't try to make sense of it. You can't. Just know that this is normal. Just wallow in it for a couple of days, then pick yourself back up and try to gather the pieces again.
And, through it all, remember the most important thing of all: To count your blessings every moment. That's the secret to not allowing the grief to carry you away. That's the secret to slow life in this normally fast paced world. While grieving it's even more important so it keeps your feet firmly planted on earth and keeps you in the now and helps you live intentionally and with purpose so you can turn your grief into something to work for you and against you. For, in your grief, you will count far more blessings because beauty sure stands out in times of grey or black or navy blue.
Huh. All of that makes perfect sense. It shows great wisdom of life experience and our backgrounds. Implementing it is a little more of a challenge.