I found this video of John Schnieder and myself performing at an award show together. My goodness, we were kids…well, teenagers! 😂 It was at this particular event that the idea was sparked for us to create a charity where all the money, 100%, would actually get to the kids. There were so many causes, but all of those causes needed to be treated! And that’s where the idea for the Children's Miracle Network started. It would bless the kids at children’s hospitals! We have raised over $8 billion since its inception in 1983, helping 10 to 11 million children every year across North America. That’s a lot of children, and I absolutely love ALL of them so very much!!! They’re my kids too🥰
I bring this up because John and I are dear friends and have been through so much together through the years. There’s a special bond that children that grew up as entertainers in this business have. It’s a different kind of life.😂 One thing I’ve always admired about John, besides his talent, is his enormous heart and the love he shows these beautiful children in our hospitals.
Well, a few days ago, John’s heart was completely shattered. He lost his sweet wife and the love of his life Alicia to cancer. As we spoke on the phone, my heart broke as I heard the pain and sorrow in his voice and cried with him as he expressed the immense grief he felt. He made a statement where he said, “Love is much too small a word. And pain is much too small a word.”
I love you, John and my deepest prayers are with you!!!
Grief is a painful word. Losing our loved ones is so incredibly difficult, especially for those left behind. And as our world changes forever, we find it almost impossible to wrap our heads around the permanence of loss which never goes away. But as Russell M. Nelson said, “the only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.”
On Friday, I did a show in Davenport, Iowa. Afterward, as I was leaving the venue, several women came up to me and said that, like me, they had suffered the loss of a child and some spoke of the loss of their spouses. As we all sat there hugging, we agreed only Christ could offer us eternal peace as He alone knows the depths of our pain and suffering and how to soothe our broken souls.
I hold on continually to His comforting words:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” [Matthew 11:28–30]
When I lost my son, Michael, 13 years ago today. At that devastating moment, I felt I could not breathe. My faith in God’s love for us was all I had to hold on to and carry me through the tremendous grief and pain. Even if you are prepared and expecting death, like with my parents, loss brings the sad and harsh reality of the separation from our loved ones. I know for me all of it would simply be unbearable without my faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement that we will rise again! I testify the only thing that can dispel the darkness of death is the light of these revealed truths!
“I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke Jesus. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
“And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25–26.)
This reassurance is a confirmation to me of life beyond the grave, We really can find the comfort and peace, as promised, by the Savior when He lovingly told His disciples.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27.)
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you …
“That where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2–3.)
We truly are carried by our faith in Him, and sometimes we probably don’t even realize this comfort the Lord is providing. But He is there…and always ready to catch us when we fall; all we have to do is sincerely ask. God lives, and He sent His beloved Son to suffer and die on the cross and then resurrected so that the bonds of death could be broken. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that penetrating light that removes the darkness of death and allows us to see the dawn of a more joyful morning. As we surrender into His arms, we will feel the love only the Savior can give.
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Ps. 30:5.)
Thomas S Monson, who spoke at my son's funeral, testified that Christ rose from the dead, and because of this, there is a resurrection.
“Therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.”
Jesus Christ, Himself declared,
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
All these truths bring comfort to my broken heart. These assurances given to us by our Savior lift those of us laden with grief with his He will assist us to move out of the shadows and into the light. And It’s available to us ALL! The promises are clear…..
I know that through Christ's redeeming Atonement and glorious Resurrection, broken hearts can be healed, anguish can become peace, and distress can become hope. He can embrace us in His arms of mercy, comforting us and empowering the healing each and every one of us so desperately needs in those darkest moments. And nothing that earth can provide will ever bring this kind of peace.
#HappySunday
Here are the next few weeks of the reading schedule I am following for those that have joined me:
February 27-March 5: Matthew 8; Mark 2-4; Luke 7
March 6-12: Matthew 9-10; Mark 5; Luke 9
March 13-19: Matthew 11-12; Luke 11
March 20-26: Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13