Dealing and Learning

I have been dealing with the loss of a dear friend, as you may know. It's the strangest feeling in the world. I'm completely torn in two. On one hand, it's so sad, for obvious reasons: she's no longer here, she lived a hard life, she had a serious disease, I miss our visits, I miss our conversations, etc. BUT, on the other hand, it's such a relief: she's in Heaven, with our Lord, dancing with Jesus, pain-free, she has a new and perfect body. I'm struggling with focusing on all of the positive things. It's so strange, I KNOW these things, I know how good she has it, I'm just not able to swallow the concept that she's really gone. It's like, I need constant reminding of this truth.
In our Thursday morning Bible Study, this morning, we talked about the life of Elijah and some of the trials he faced, as a prophet and as a follower of Christ. He had to do very courageous things and talk boldly to some pretty important people. In one of the scenarios, he was reminding a king of his sins; disobeying and ignoring God's commands and worshiping and following Baal. I thought to myself, "Wow. . . what a idiot! How obvious is THIS. DUH!. . . .don't follow a fake god. . .he's not doing a THING for your people, he's not even a real person. . .he's a statue for crying out loud. If you would ONLY follow Christ. . ."
How similar it is in my own life, however, right now. I know that Suzi is with Jesus, I know that this was God's plan for her. She could not be in a better place or with better company. I'm actually a little jealous of her right now. But, like King Ahab, I need a good reminder every once in a while. Something to keep me on my toes, and my head out of the clouds.
We are supposed to miss people when they are gone. It's perfectly fine to do so and, honestly, I would be a quit concerned if someone close passed away and people could care less. In fact, the shortest verse in the Bible is about our Savior grieving over the loss of a dear friend (John 11:35 "Jesus wept")
Anyway, I thought I would share something personal that I'm been struggling with, and to ask for your prayers. Not only for me, but for Suzi's family, for I am sure they will, if they have not yet, struggle with similar things. Thank you!