Chapter Eternal

It’s 12:37am, and I write with a heavy heart. Around 10pm, we were informed that a sweet sorority sister had passed after a sudden illness. Through the pain and confusion, so many are just trying to understand the “why?” Oftentimes, when we lose someone in our life due to tragic circumstances, we question God. We yell and we beg and we want answers. Though we may be torn to hurt, I have to reflect that He’s all knowing, so He had this plan for us before He even breathed us into life. Whether we understand it or not.

Psalm 139 tells us that He knew us when we were knit in our mother’s womb. He created us to fit into His plan from the start. The families we entered, the lives we would meet, the work we would do. We’re made for a purpose, and we can never forget that. Sometimes when we experience loss, we become so focused on the future that person missed out on, that we forget all of their past. Each step in the journey they’ve made created them to the exact person they were meant to be. The school they went to, the groups they joined, the friends they made, even the brunch they attended, all led them to becoming the exact soul God intended them to be. When you take a look at their life, be reminded that you also entered it for a reason. God knit you in their journey for a specific purpose.

When our sorority loses a sister, we call it entering “Chapter Eternal.” That sister will be forever remembered in our chapter and in our hearts. To me, it’s more than just a sweet saying. Our lives are like a book, each day a page and each season a chapter. When I look at my own life, I see each step I’ve gone through and grown through as separate seasons. Sometimes you’re blooming like the spring, and sometimes you’re buried to grow like the winter. But through it all, each season is connected. Flowers can’t bloom without first being buried in the dirt. & when they wither, they bring new life to the soil beneath them. Each season brings our purpose to fruition, and each brings one chapter to close and another to open. But eventually the book has to end. Sometimes we’re pleased with the endings and sometimes we’re left with cliffhangers. I believe that the book that God writes on our lives never truly ends, though our worldly journey might. Instead, we enter a chapter eternal with Him. We enter a kingdom of beauty and of peace and of paradise. Where there’s no more pain, and only love surrounds you.

For those of us who watch a sister pass on, it can be hard to accept. Grieving is a natural process. I think one thing we should know, is that she’s going to be with us in new ways now. Her spirit will brighten lives that you’ll just know she’s there. When you start to think about not having enough time with her, instead know that you had just the right amount of time you were supposed to have. You had just the right amount of conversations, just the right amount of hugs, just the right amount of laughs. You carry on her memory on this earth by living out the best days, sharing in her life’s joys, and by understanding that she’s completely at peace with the Maker. Sometimes souls leave this world early because they’ve been called to be guardian angels on our lives instead. Or maybe God was looking at his kingdom and said “it’s missing something…oh right, her.” We have to learn to trust that there’s a purpose for all, and believe that one day, when we’re called, we’ll stand right up there in the kingdom with her.

In loving memory of Paulina Chiriboga. Your sweet soul will never be forgotten. May you rest with the angels and smile upon this world with peace. TFJ, beautiful girl. ❤️