3 Truths: Love Again

One year anniversary of my wife’s homegoing to heaven, 8/5/25-8/5/26.

T2: Yes, You Can Love Again.

Three months after Sandie’s homegoing, I made a profile on a Christian dating website. Was it too soon after Sandie’s homegoing? Not really. She had been declining for 3 years and the final 15 months I was her hospice caretaker at home. I traveled through the stages of grief several times. So, I was emotionally prepared for her departure. She couldn’t eat, she couldn’t speak, she had lost half her body weight. I knew she was ready to be with her Savior. I saw it in her eyes. No fear. I prayed for the Lord to take her to heaven. The morning of 8/5/2025, I heard the “death rattle” and was with her when she took her last breath. I felt pain and relief. She experienced freedom!

A few days after posting my profile, I was messaged by a lady on my wife’s birthday (12/11). Coincidence? The dating website relationship lasted 6 months.  Why was the relationship important? It’s the capacity to love again, but with some struggles. My lady friend allowed me to talk about Sandie. It was healing for me. I allowed her to talk about the loss of her sister. We had both experienced loss and grief. In my relationship with her I felt I could love again. My heart was healing and able to love a new “soul mate”.

1 John 4:7-10: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Yes, you can love again because God is love. We don’t lose the ability to love because God is love. We can pollute the capacity to love with selfishness, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. I struggled with bitterness, resentment, and anger toward God, not the hospice care people or anybody else. When the poison was removed from my spirit, the Spirit produced the fruit of love in my life. Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

Yes, I can love again, because God is love. Now, I feel pulled in two directions. I would like to meet a new “body and soul mate” and remarry, IF it’s the Lord’s will. I don’t fear the covenant. However, I also enjoy the freedom of being single! I know it is possible to have both. I enjoyed a marriage covenant with Sandie and the freedom to travel and enjoy days of “singleness”. I think the security of the covenant enabled me to do mission work for the Lord and enjoy times of singleness. So, I will let the Lord decide. “The LORD God brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22)

PS: I still have an active profile on the dating website. The Lord can use it if it’s His will.

3 Truths: Release the Past

One-year anniversary of my wife’s homegoing to heaven 8/5/25-8/5/26.

T1: Release the past and move forward.

The Scripture for Truth 1: Philippians 3:13-14: I take Paul out of context and use this as a principle: Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. If we want to move forward toward the goal (perfection or completeness in Christ) then we need to forget what lies behind in the past.

“Forget the past and move forward” meant moving out of the house and neighborhood where I took care of Sandie for 3 years. I call it “moving out and moving on”. When she crashed our car into her doctor’s Porsche, I knew she couldn’t drive anymore. We moved from Memphis to Dallas to be close to our son. During those 3 years I took her to Rock Steady Boxing, church, doctors, neurologists, healing services, and hospice care. For the last year of her life she was in hospice care, lying in a hospital bed next to me. (The Lord forced to move out and on when the owner of the house decided to sell it.) Why was moving out important? It was separation from the past and a move forward into a new life. I needed to move out and move on into a new life without her.

“Forget the past” really means release it. At the hospice memorial service for all the patients who died in 2025, we released butterflies. My butterfly had difficulty flying when it was released. It fell; it did not fly up and away. After some help it fluttered away, free at last. Moving beyond loss and grief is like that.

Don’t hold on so tightly that you cannot move forward. Don’t let the past hold you back. I will never forget Sandie. I look at our pictures together and say, “I wish you were here with me, or I was there with you,” but feel only slight pain of loss and a whisper of grief. Then I give thanks she is safe in heaven. However, I am reducing photo albums. I keep only a few photos and three albums. I have pictures and videos on my phone I should delete so I can move forward. (I have a video of All Texas Cremation taking her body away. Delete it?) I have a VHS video of our wedding in 8/15/1987. I may digitize it, but I like the scratchy VHS quality because it looks old and reminds me we were married a long time ago before cell phones existed. I only watch it once a year on our anniversary.

“Forget the past” means I will not allow bitterness, resentment, fear, or unfulfilled dreams of growing old together keep me from experiencing the new life the Lord has for me. I’m still in this world. The Lord has a purpose for me. I will live it for His glory.

Hebrews 12:1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Cut loose the weight of the past and run with patient endurance the race Jesus has set before you. The “weight of the past” is any burden or impediment that would keep you from moving forward in the Lord’s plan: grief, guilt, anger, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, or any sinful attitude or behavior. I was bitter and angry toward God who controls life and death, who took my “soul mate” and crushed the dream of growing old together and having “mom” involved in the lives of our children. She was the key relational link with our children. She did not get to see her grandchild.

Cutting loose the weight of the past releases the freedom of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Hernia Surgery Recovery

Value of Waiting

It reveals my sin nature. I don’t like it, but I need it. Impatience is built into my sin nature. I see it in myself when confronted with waiting, like waiting in line at Costco or waiting in traffic. I see it with others every day I drive a TX highway. Drive the speed limit and you will feel like you’re standing still as cars and trucks zoom around you like water around a rock in the middle of a stream. I felt my impatient sin nature many times during my wife’s hospice care. I have a keloid scar that reminds me. I had to help her to the bathroom at night. I was impatient and angry and dropped her on the toilet. The bowl broke and flooded the bathroom. I sliced my palm open on a sharp edge of the ceramic bowl… water and blood. I went to the ED of the hospital where I work. No stiches. I have a keloid scar to remind me.

It makes me trust in the LORD and not my own efforts. Proverbs 3:5-8. As I wait and trust there will be post-op healing to my flesh and refreshment to my bones and joints. That’s a promise.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

It keeps me from getting ahead of God’s plan and timing. If I get ahead of God’s plan then I will mess it up. God is orchestrating other necessary alignments while I wait. Psalm 37:1-7: Be still before the lord and wait patiently for him. Waiting is not wasted time.

It is preparation time for my character and skills to develop. Abraham & Sarah, Moses, Joseph, David waited. Waiting formed the character and skills the LORD required so they were prepared for their holy assignments in His history of redemption. The disciples waited 50 days for the HS (Acts 1:4; 2:1) not knowing when or how HS would come. The wait was worth it, followed by boldness and power.

It renews purpose and strength: Isaiah 40:30-31. I feel like an agave century plant. This is my favorite plant when hiking around Big Bend mountains and deserts. It’s silent for many years and then grows a tall flower stalk that feeds insects, hummingbirds, and bats; then it dies.

Hernia Surgery Lessons

This post is a temporary break from writing about the one-year anniversary of my wife’s homegoing.

When I discovered I had an inguinal hernia I researched non-surgical options. I bought hernia belts and they worked. I never had a surgery in my life! Doctors scared me and told me hernias do not heal themselves and there was the danger of strangulation. After a few scary episodes with the hernia (due to manageable mistakes), I decided to have surgery. One of the reasons I decided to have hernia surgery is because I think the Holy Spirit spoke to me from Philippians 2. For Jesus to sympathize with us in our flesh weaknesses as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:15), He had to become flesh (John 1:14), be made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). He had to experience being human, physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering. Jesus felt it all, from bleeding sweat to horrific scourging to the agony of being pierced by iron spikes.

I have several people in my church who have suffered surgeries. I prayed for them, but I really couldn’t empathize with them.  I couldn’t say, “I feel your pain.” (As a chaplain, I say this to spouses who have lost spouses because my wife went to heaven 8/5/2025.) I feel the anxiety of pre-op and post-op. Now I know what it feels like! I have tasted the fear. I have weathered sleepless anxiety.  Now I can more than sympathize, I can empathize with the surgery survivors in my church. “I know what you are feeling. I’ve been there and survived by God’s mercy and grace. So will you. Let’s pray.”

Day 4 after surgery I am starting to regret it. This is due to the pain. I’m thinking, “I really didn’t need the surgery. I am turning 70. I could’ve lived the rest of my time in this world without it. I’ve been managing it with diet and hernia belt. I allowed fear of it to push me to surgery. Faith didn’t overcome fear.” (Note: D4 most of the acute pain has subsided and I stopped the prescription pain meds.) Why regret my decision? It’s done. Regret is useless. Regret only adds confusion. I need mental and emotional clarity. I need to exercise faith in the goodness of God. I need to move forward. I need to work on a recovery plan so I can get back to serving the LORD.

I will write more about my post-op and lessons from the LORD. As 8/5/2026 approaches I will return to my wife’s one-year homegoing anniversay.

The Loss of a Spouse

The loss of a beloved spouse is a hard test from God.

I will be writing about 3 Truths one year after Sandie’s homegoing: 8/5/2025-8/5/2026.

I will share my “3 Truths” experiences with accompanying scriptures:

T1: Release the past and move forward.

T2: Yes, you can love again.

T3: Living with purpose heals grief.

LOVE AGAIN?

Love Again: I miss Sandie body and soul. I feel like my body and soul need another tangible soulmate, another intimate connection. Thirty-eight years of intimate connection with a soulmate doesn’t just disappear when she’s gone. (Here’s a terrible analogy: maybe it’s like a soldier who has his legs blown off by an IED. He may feel his legs are still there and wonder if he could ever walk again. Eventually he will learn to walk with prosthetic legs.)  A well-intentioned Christian may say, “You have the Holy Spirit as your Helper. So why do you desire a tangible soulmate?” Why? Because the Holy Spirit is a spirit and I am a spirit in a body; I am a “living soul”. The HS can heal my spirit but my body needs physical touch to heal.

So, I wonder if I could ever love again, learn to love another woman as a soulmate, a wife. Would I need to forget about Sandie to love another woman? I cannot do that. But another soulmate would make life better: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. A threefold cord includes the LORD as the central cord.

I see advantages to remaining single for the remainder of my life and I see advantages to living with another soulmate, if it’s the LORD’s will and He provides. So, I’ll wait and see. (Every time I sit next to an attractive mature woman at church I feel something and look to see if she’s wearing a wedding ring. Can’t fight the temptation!) Anyway… I’m 69! I don’t want to live past 80… unless I can still hike, ride my ADV bike, have enough money to cover basic expenses, and serve the LORD.

Missing Sandie: Loneliness

My wife of 38 years is in heaven. I think about her in heaven every day. Now there’s an empty space in my heart and time. The empty space in my heart is loneliness. Loneliness is a byproduct of grief. When you lose a person you loved and who loved you then you will feel loneliness. Loneliness is the feeling of being unloved. There is no loneliness in heaven because God is love (1 John 4). In heaven we will be embraced, enveloped, and satiated in the love of God. It will permeat every space in our glorified bodies and souls. If you think true love feels good to your body and soul now in this world under the curse of sin, then you will be completely overcome, “blown away”, by the love of God in heaven. (I loved falling in love with my wife, the feelings and excitement, but nothing compares to God in love with me.) We were created to live and move and have our being in God’s love (Acts 17:28). Only the Spirit of God can completely satisfy the need to be loved and heal all loneliness. Here’s a Bible verse for those who are experiencing grief and its lonliness: Psalm 34:18: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

The empty space in my time is a new freedom. I am free from 24/7 caregiving. Free to do what? What does the Lord want me to do with the new freedom He’s given me? So, I’m seeking the LORD. What am I supposed to do now? The LORD has left me here without Sandie, so what is His will? What is my mission while I’m still in this world? I will continue serving as a hospital chaplain. It partially fills the empty space in my heart and time. I may serve again as a pastor if the LORD guides and provides.

Second and Third Blessings of a Progressive, Incurable, Terminal Disease

Second blessing is that it is progressive. A progressive disease gives the patient and caregiver time to draw close to the Lord and experience His presence. The disease slowly disabled Sandie without pain. That’s mercy. I got to love and care for her every day. When Sandie became confined to a hospital bed, we watched Christian movies at night and “attended” Sunday worship at several churches from home.  I think a progressive disease with hospice care would be better than dying in an accident. As a chaplain I have dealt with husbands and wives shocked by the unexpected cardiac death of their spouses. An expected death is less traumatic than an unexpected accidental death. So, when I’m called to the ICU or ED for a death one of my first questions for the living spouse is “Was this expected or unexpected?” Grief is still real, but with Sandie’s progressive disease I went through the stages of grief several times during her final year in hospice. I was beside her the moment she breathed her last breath and it felt like painful relief. Pain from the grief, but relief that the struggle was over.

Third, the progressive nature of her disease made it a sanctifying experience for me.  Jesus gave me Sandie to sanctify me. “Every affliction comes with a message from the heart of God.” The message is sanctification. I struggled to accept and fully utilize the adversity for my growth in agape love. My sinfulness was revealed many times when I was impatient and angry. (I bear a keloid scar that reminds me of my sinfulness.) My growth in agape love was revealed when I was patient and kind as described in1 Corinthians 13. But I sometimes argued with the Lord: “If Sandie’s disease is about perfecting me, sanctifying my soul, then it isn’t fair. Why should she suffer to make me more in Your image?” – I now know the answer to my complaint: because I loved her. It’s all about agape love. The Lord used the wife I loved to show me my sin and perfect me in His love. “I’m afflicting the person you love to teach you about My love” doesn’t seem fair, but the Lord’s purpose is growth in agape love for the patient and caregiver.

The Blessing of a Progressive, Incurable, Terminal Disease, Part 1

This could be a description of growing old! We are all dying of a progressive, incurable, terminal disease which is the curse of sin upon creation and human lifespan. Sandie was 66 years old when she died. The peak of life is 33 years old. It’s a fast climb to 33 and then a slow descent to 66. (It’s a slow descent to however long you live after 33.) The last 3 years of her life were a rapid descent, but we experienced the blessing of a progressive, incurable, terminal disease. Good news! Sandie will be the equivalent of 33 years when I see her again in heaven and so will I. We will enjoy eternity in 33-year-old resurrection bodies!

How can a progressive, incurable, terminal disease be a blessing?

First blessing was learning how to pray for healing. How did I pray for Sandie during her 3-year struggle with her disease? I took her to a healing evangelist from India who travels around the USA and nothing happened. (I’ll name him: Ankit Rambabu. I’m not judging the validity of his ministry. Jesus is the judge.) She stood in the “healing line” and was touched by the evangelist; nothing happened. I didn’t see anyone get healed that night. At least one third of the meeting was about money. I gave all the cash in my wallet after the evangelist made his long appeal for money. I later realized I was trying to buy Sandie’s healing.

Later, I met a sincere person who told me to call a man with a “gift of healing”. I called and he commanded healing. He commanded and then asked if there was any movement in Sandie’s stiff legs and arms. Nothing. He hung up.   

We watched 700 Club many nights. There would be a time of healing prayer with “words of knowledge” spoken by Robertson and others. I noticed that all the “words of knowledge” for healing were about minor problems, something a person could go to a doctor for or get a prescription. (Of course, minor health problems can become big annoying problems for those who are suffering from them.) I waited for a “word of knowledge” about an incurable, terminal illness, like cancer, or a degenerative neurological movement disorder. Nothing. Only minor problems that were not life-threatening. (OK, there were a few who had life-threatening health problems like a guy who had cancerous tumors growing all over his body and he was healed, but 95% were minor problems.)

I prayed Psalm 103:1-5 over Sandie many times. I claimed the benefits Jesus paid for: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit (of death).” We know the Lord forgives all our sins; therefore, He must also heal all our diseases. Her disease wasn’t healed. She’s in heaven now and received the healing Jesus paid for.

I’m growing weary of fake Christian triumphalism. I despise “name it and claim it” or “declare it” Christianity.

I gave up praying Psalm 103 toward the end and began praying for mercy. I didn’t have the faith to believe a miracle. I rolled her emaciated body every day. I changed her diapers. I pulled out her poop. I bandaged her smelly bed sores that went to the bone. When she died (not “passed away”) she was less than 100 pounds. I prayed for mercy. The Lord may deny healing while we live in this world under the curse of sin, but not mercy. You may not receive the healing you ask for, but you will receive mercy. Hebrews 4:14-16 is now my primary scripture when praying for healing of body and soul.

I gradually moved from “name it and claim it” abuse of promises to disillusionment and disbelief and then to surrender and trust in the Lord and His good purpose and plans. I appeal for mercy to the throne of grace of the Lord Jesus who has felt pain and suffering.

I prayed Job a lot. After Satan’s first attack, Job had a right attitude: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” After Satan’s second attack on Job’s health, he started to complain. (There were times I complained during Sandie’s disease. Caregiving is stressful even if you are healthy.) But the Lord also restored all Satan stole and more when Job realized his own self-righteousness and forgive his accusers. (I always confessed my sins of impatience and anger. Now I am waiting for restoration.)

I am re-reading Adventures In Adversity (Paul E. Billheimer) about the sanctification of Job. If you are in adversity or affliction, then read it.

I’m working on Part 2.