See You Sunday

By Denise L. Moskaluk Lanza

How many times had I unknowingly passed someone who was in a place of grief or sadness? Had I seen the face of despair as I passed them, unable to read their hearts cry?

Understanding and making sense of why bad things have to happen do not always come on the heels of that experience. Sometimes we have to wait and allow God to reveal things in his timing.

Watch your strong opinions in a situation that you have little or no experience or understanding! I like to say, I have not noticed any of my shoes missing, so Im quite certain you have no idea what Im walking in.

Most importantly, go to the one who can ease your pain and who loves you deeply and give your life over to him now so that eternity looks more like living then dying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490816050

Denise L. Moskaluk Lanza

Spilling with tears, pain and grief, her Heavenly father used her deceased husband’s meditations and prayers, uniting them with her journal pages. Only God himself could meld it all together using it for healing through Faith. A treasure: for family friends and a worthy read for all who must grieve.

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Copyright © 2013 Denise L. Moskaluk Lanza.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-1606-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1607-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1605-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013921097

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/30/2013

I dedicate this book to our children, who experienced one of life’s most difficult times so early in their lives. I love you all more than you will ever understand.

To the many friends who accompanied me as we said a final good-bye.

To my family: all of you. Our love for Randy will forever remain in our hearts and in our minds. The relationship with Randy that we were granted by God touched our lives and forever changed who we are. The memories we hold, whether between two of us or as a family, will always endure. Not even death can take them away from us.

To my sweet niece, Donna Davenport, who did most of the editing, and to my very good friend, Carey Kuhl, who supported me and offered me a refuge while I tried to figure out life on my own again and who lovingly pointed me back to our Lord.

Most important, to you, my Lord and Savior, my ever-faithful Father, my restorer, my rock, my light on a very dark path, my friend, my majesty, and my healer.

CONTENTS

Prayer by Randall P. Moskaluk

Prologue

Chapter 1   In the Beginning

Chapter 2   Gone Astray

Chapter 3   Epitaph

Chapter 4   Faith as My Pillow

Chapter 5   You Put That Light in Me

Chapter 6   No, Not Abandoned at All

Chapter 7   Out of the Mouths of Babes

Chapter 8   A Divine Appointment

Chapter 9   Tug of War

Chapter 10   Beyond My Comprehension

Chapter 11   Death of My Old Nature

Chapter 12   Who is Worthy

Chapter 13   Seasons

Chapter 14   Self-Examination

Epilogue

Denise’s Bookshelf

PRAYER BY RANDALL P. MOSKALUK

Dear heavenly Father,

You are the author of our salvation, and we are eternally grateful for your perfect love and for Jesus Christ, whose death, burial, and resurrection have provided the way. You created him in your image that we may see you through him. You, the creator of the universe and beyond, the author of life itself, became what you created that we may know you, and suffered and died at the hands of your creation. We give you praise for your incomprehensible ways, and we honor you through the Lord’s Supper, praising the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord! Amen.

Randall P. Moskaluk, 2009

(1965-2011)

snowmobile2.jpg

Randy’s new sled on a trail in Old Forge NY. Randy had stopped and asked me to snap a picture, it was the happiest I had seen him. Taken just 3 1/2 months before his passing.

PROLOGUE

This book chronicles the thoughts and emotions that marked the path I traveled in 2011. Just weeks after my husband Randy’s passing, I was reading through the binder of meditations he offered at communion time during worship with our church family over the years, and I felt a strong tug on my heart to match them with the pages in the personal journal that I was keeping and with the steps I was taking in my life. God was faithful from the beginning, reconciling me to my new circumstances as I moved along painful trails, which seem to have no end as I was called into widowhood. God saw fit to use Randy’s words, and the Scripture verses that he had chosen to lead God’s family through communion, to comfort me on my new passage.

Randy’s words are followed by passages from my journal describing my thoughts and feelings and the steps that I had to take to accept my loss and to live faithfully, believing God had other plans for me.

And so my healing began.

(This is a meditation written and delivered by Randall P. Moskaluk after Ralf, a friend from our church family, went home to be with our Lord. The Lord saw fit to welcome my husband there just a little more than one year later. I consider both men leaders of the family of God and shining examples of the fruits of the Spirit. Both were entirely focused on God’s Word and message before crossing from this life to life everlasting.)

Words of wisdom from Solomon:

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure (Ecclesiastes 7:1–4).

Through these words of wisdom, God reminds us that life is short, that we must live wisely, and that adversity refines our character. I think most agree that we grow closer to God and glean more about him in the difficult times than in the happy times.

God poured life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. He did this through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, which set us free from the fear of death because death was defeated.

Every person must die, but death is not the end; instead, it is the doorway to life everlasting.

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to him—something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Shall we pray?

Dear Father in heaven, you are the Lord God Almighty. Our words cannot describe your awe-inspiring plan of salvation. Thank you for loving us so much that you were willing to take on flesh and