Carol's Corner

Comfort. The word evokes pictures of warm, fuzzy feelings, a sense of security and help. We hear about comfort food – mine is chocolate and sweet things and it shows on my figure or lack of one. I think of my children and their security blankets – comfort they could carry with them and snuggle into. My grandchildren wrapped the afghans I made them around themselves and some envisioned it like a grandma hug when they were not right with me.

Linus from Charlie Brown always has his blanket with him. It comforts him, helps him block out the struggles of the world around him but in the one Christmas special he gives the blanket to wrap around the base of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree – that forlorn looking, needles falling off little tree that needs some love and attention and only in the cartoons could it be made beautiful. He offered what comforted him.

To comfort means to ease or alleviate another person’s feeling of grief or distress. There are so many situations in our puzzle of life that can cause us distress or grief, no matter who we are.

In 2 Corinthians 1: 3& 4 it says,

Praise be to the god and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

I attended a ladies salad celebration at our church. The speaker, Kim Arendt, shared this passage with us along with part of her story. She shared the tough stuff and the lessons God taught her as he offered her comfort through on going hard times where the puzzle pieces of her life and her family’s life did not seem to fit together.

She challenged us to remember the comfort God gave us – the people he sent to walk along side us and the encouraging words or deeds in a time of despair. Then she said we should find a person whose story is like our past story and comfort them. If we have suffered a loss, then find someone else who is grieving and walk alongside them, offering comfort you experiences. I have a daughter with special needs so I can find another parent, maybe who is just starting on the journey of parenting someone with special needs. I can offer suggestions, respite, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on as I walk with them.

Have you struggled with an addiction or had a child or other family member who is addicted, then find someone who needs some comfort as they walk a most difficult past. Maybe your past contains depression, mental illness, chronic illness or cancer. There are so many others facing these issues. As God has comforted us, we are to walk with others who are hurting and comfort them.

This past summer I met a parent who just found out their teenage daughter found life almost unbearable. She had taken too many pills in order to rid herself of the internal pain she felt. But a friend found out about it, almost right away, and got help. The young girl’s cry for help had been heard but came as a total shock to her parents. I’ve struggled with depression. I know the internal pain. I had the opportunity to listen to his pain, share a bit of my journey – just enough so he knew he was not alone. I had received comfort from God, from people he had put in my life at just the right time and now I could pass on some of the comfort.

Think back to times you have needed someone to comfort you, whether a recent event or in the past. What brought you comfort in the midst of pain? How can you share that comfort with another person.