Jennifer Bryant
To anyone who comes across this page, my cousin is more beautiful than the picture you see. Her heart and spirit was beautiful and full of love. She had such strong faith in the Lord, a faith that she used to bless me in ways I know will continue to multiply til I see her again. I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to know her, but I pray you will someday.
The earthly time I shared with my cousin was limited and brief, and for those of you who experienced more of her time and physical presence, know you are and were truly blessed.
Besides the time we spent together as little children, the best time my cousin spent with me was truly honoring and glorifying God and showing by example and teaching me what that means.
My cousin reappeared in my life as an adult when my health was in question, from her God given lovely heart, through the time all our mothers spent talking to one another about children, life, and circumstance.
When my daughter chose Jesus at five, my cousin blessed me and my daughter with clothing and scripture.
When my grandmother was ill, my cousin helped me figure out transportation and met up with me to spend a day with me, with her lovely spirit, her beautiful smile, and we shared food and time together. I thank God for that time we got to spend together as grown women.
However, time, as it does- marched on.
In that time my cousin taught me a bit more about prayer and its relation to scripture. She said that when we pray and meditate on scripture we are giving our lives back to God and honoring His place in it.
My cousin pursued my spirit at a time when I had no words to say to anything or anyone- even her. She persisted over a period of around six months and never gave up trying to reach out. When I got over myself, she accepted me back and didn’t hold that time against me.
However, life, as it does- continued to happen.
When my life was temporarily in a state of chaos, my cousin offered me rest.
My cousin fought for me from a distance out of love.
This past year has been a struggle. I had no idea what to say to my cousin because I could not understand her struggle. I knew she was busy trying to stay healthy, while trying to be a good wife and mother. Which fortunately, I was blessed enough to witness last year.
In honor of the legacy of her impact on me, this day I choose gratitude because God’s grace has granted my cousin heavenly sight through her faith in Him. She is no longer limited and constrained to earthly troubles and sorrows. I thank God because her light is fully realized in the Lord through Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I look forward to seeing you on God’s Great Dance Floor Beloved Cousin.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5
