A Picture Of Me Without You

Liz’s birthday is coming up this month. She would have been 67 and I have now spent 33 months without her. I have involved myself in many activities, trying to fill a void that cannot be filled. My life goes on without her even though I have wished at times that it wouldn’t. I am so thankful for my family and close friends that lifted me and brought me through the hardest of times; I do have a lot to live for. But sometimes a date on the calendar or being in a favorite place brings it all crashing down again. I never know which place, what date, or when, and it can quietly sneak up on me.

The inevitable crying always helps, followed by the anger, and feeling sorry for myself is always effective. When I’m done with that I tend to write, play our favorite old music, or even sing to her (well, calling it singing is questionable) Sometimes I even get out pictures and reminisce about the wonderful life we had together. That always reminds me to be thankful, but tonight after viewing pictures of me and my family taken in recent times; pictures that did not include Liz and of course will never include her, a song I had not heard in many years came to me. It was called:

“A Picture Of Me Without You” by George Jones” It goes like this:

Imagine a world where no music was playing
Then think of a church with nobody praying
If you’ve ever looked up at a sky with no blue
Then you’ve seen a picture of me without you

Have you walked in a garden where nothing was growing?
Or stood by a river where nothing was flowing?
If you’ve seen a red rose unkissed by the dew
Then you’ve seen a picture of me without you

Can you picture Heaven with no angels singing?
Or a quiet Sunday morning with no church bells ringing?
If you’ve watched as the heart of a child breaks in two
Then you’ve seen a picture of me without you

I sang this song to her over and over remembering that since my younger days, I had never really sang for anyone else but her.

The Rest of The Story

I am a born again Christian.

I guess at some point; amid all this pandemic chaos, riots, social distancing, stress at work, and maybe less Church, my faith suffered. I could blame it on many things instead of myself, but I prayed less, read my Bible less, and just drifted from my closeness with God. From what I hear this happens to Christians sometimes, but not me, I thought.

As I sang the words to that George Jones song I realized that I really missed my closeness with God; the words began describing a picture of me without Him. That’s why the song came into my head. It was God speaking to me the way he always does. I sang the words in that song describing my feelings for Liz, but they came to me from my God. I had become weak, defenseless, and miserable without Him. My life was slowly becoming a picture of me without Him. It was a reminder and a message from my God that he loves me and is always there. I have found that wherever I go he is already there waiting for me. Matthew 28:20

My Pastor, my friend, and brother; Bobby Brown delivered our Sunday lesson about Sampson and how he lost his super strength. Most people think it was because Delilah cut his hair, but that is not true. Sampson got his strength from his faith in God and he lost his strength when he lost his faith in God. In the end he prayed and asked God to give him strength one more time and God answered his prayer.

I’m certainly no Sampson, but God is my source of strength too and without Him I become weak, defenseless, and miserable. “Jesus Is Lord“. I love Him and He loves me.

You also can find strength with God. He is there waiting just like he was for me. All you have to do is ask. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” Matthew 7:7