Fellowship time or not?

Hello Village,
A couple of months ago I was looking at a death notice on Facebook, and the mother said, "Do not make any tshirts or put my child's face on your shirts!"

At first, I thought this mother is taking her child's death really hard.
Then, I said, "That's what all the children do...they put pictures on shirts," but anyways, this was strange to me until.....

Last night, I was cleaning my drawers out. I'm a t-shirt girl, so I accumulate them from so many places and people. I went into my dresser drawers and pulled out four t-shirts of deceased people. I never wear them after the funerals because some are a vivid reminder of what I've lost. So, they just sit in the drawers and gather dust mites until I throw them away. Yet, apparently these meant enough for me to just hold on to them.

Then it hit me...
And I understood just what that mother was saying. 
Keep reading the post, and I'll tell you more.

I actually started searching for my family reunion tees. I had more death shirts than I had family reunion shirts.
And that was the problem.
Families don't get together to enjoy one another, but as soon as someone dies, that's when everyone gathers to laugh, talk, and enjoy.
But your togetherness is now riding on someone else's greatest moment of hurt.

Then the Lord took me back.
I was so angry at my grandmother's wake that I got up and left.
Back then, I was a true curser, and I said, "These MotherF'ers think this is a got-d family reunion. Go celebrate your d selves."
Why? Because I wanted everyone in the room to feel the same pain I was feeling.

See, there in lies some important truths that no one wants to deal with until someone blows up and spazzes out. 
1) You may have loved the person that died, but your everyday life didn't revolve around them. Sure, you came to see them one or twice a year...but someone made it a point to see that person on a weekly or daily basis. You may even call once a month, but someone else calls daily.
2) Families should take the time to gather and assemble themselves, if only to say, "I love you." You can't wait to use someone else's moment of pain to partake in fun and then use this lie to make it better... "We have to stop meeting like this, so I'm going to make sure we do better." It never happens, and you remain okay until another funeral.
3) The deceased person doesn't know you cared enough about them to wear their face around. Your display did nothing for them. It made you feel better about what you didn't do, but it's too late now.
And...
4. As the mother of three beautiful children, I know who they associate with and who they do not associate with. I know who they will take off work to check on and who they know is faker than fake. So, the truth is...for a mother to see someone who she knows her child didn't do walk around like a billboard for their death, it's enough to make you go ham.

I thought it was necessary for me to write about my findings because people are dying. People are hurting. And the hurting people don't need you to make yourself feel better at the cost of what they've lost. 
We only celebrate death when we understand it.
What do you mean, Scroggins? 
Death is the finalization of an earthly assignment fulfilled. Then, after death, the person is either rewarded or damned. Those who are in Christ are rewarded with rest from their labor. They have finalized the assignment.
Chose Jesus as their Lord.
Love Him enough to keep His commandments.
And die in Him so that one day you can live among the saints on a new earth.
So even though the saints celebrate the homegoing of another saint, they still remember those fragile hearts who have come to know the person who has passed on to the other side in a special connection or way.

I said all of that to say, "I understand that, Mother." 
I understand that for her, she did not want to engage in social media photoshoots or glamorized social media stunts for her child's funeral. She just wanted to get through the hardest days of her life and learn how to live on this side after one of the greatest pieces of her had left for the other side. I get that she didn't want those who rarely even took a chance to celebrate her child's life to get superstar status by celebrating their death.
So this Church Mother wrote all of these words to say to you readers... please be mindful of the family who bears the weights and scars of burying someone they loved more than life itself.

I hope this message makes us think.
Be blessed,
PastorDanyelle🌸🍃

If you do not know the Lord, now is the time to get to know Him.