You'll never walk alone

Nettie
When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/carousel/youllneverwalkalone.htm


One of the most difficult challenges I faced was feeling alone.  Utterly and completely alone.  I was blessed with 6 beautiful children.  Two of them I had them without insurance.  We moved twice while I was pregnant with our 3rd child.  My DH worked hard to make a way to pay the doctor and hospital bills.  That meant many hours alone with 3 under 4 years old.  I felt no connection to anyone.  Extended family was thousand miles away.  I didn't know that I suffered from severe postpartum depression. How could I not I know?  The symptoms said you cry all the time.  I didn't cry.  Not a drop.  I learned years later that tears is only one of the symptoms not the only symptom.  I felt so alone.  So overwhelmed.  It was during this time that I had my most memorable spiritual experience in a weed filled pasture overlooking the freeway.  Not exactly the place that one thinks of as a spiritual place.  But it was, because this is when I reached out to my Heavenly Father wanting to know what to do.  No revelation on what to do.  However, a powerful reassurance that I am never alone.  I maybe overtired, afraid, hurting, frustrated, lonely, on the very edge of collapse, but this single memory reminds my I am never alone.

I first received this story in an email.  I am not sure of the author.  This is a link that had a copy. http://www.jaredstory.com/empty_chair.html I am not even sure if it is true.  What I do know is it touches on what I believe too.

THE EMPTY CHAIR

A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father.  When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed.  The pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of  his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I'm the new associate at your local church," the pastor replied.  "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. 
"I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head."
"I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's  what I suggest. Sit down on a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised,  'I'll be with you always. ' Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now."
"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek.  When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, in fact, beyond strange--kinda weird.  Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."