Death, Death, and LIFE
I feel like I only post now days when I'm in over my head. Well I'm drowning.
Thank you for the prayers of my Grandpaw. In the end, we all realized that his quality of life was so poor that it was almost easy to let go. He was a Godly man who very obviously put God first in all he did. I was in the middle of my off site at a hospital and at home health and so every day I spent time around the elderly. After spending day after day with these little people who had lost the ability to talk, swallow, think.... I find it a blessing that Grandpaw was teaching a Bible class the night before he entered the hospital. He did what he loved. No one could take that away from him. Every day that I was surrounded with people in the hospital with no immediate discharge date, I found myself thanking God for saving Grandpaw from that pain. It honestly made it easy to let go.
But that's just one difficulty of the summer. Yesterday I got an awful, awful text message and later a call about a dear classmate of mine. She gave birth to her daughter in May and yesterday found out that the baby had been left in the car all day. By the time the father realized what had happened around 3, the baby had already passed. My heart literally aches for this family. This morning at 15 to 8:00, I sat straight up in bed and immediately asked myself "Was that a dream? Is it over?" Sadly, no. It's only getting worse. Not only are they having to deal with the grief of losing a child, they are having to deal with awful comments from the general public judging them for what has happened. People attacked my friend for being an awful mother and saying things such as she doesn't deserve to be a mother, when she wasn't even there. It doesn't matter who left her at this point. It matters that the family can pull through this. Please, pray fervently that the Lord can heal their wounds and help their marriage survive.
Two deaths... One sad but joyful, the other tragic. Just at the point that despair might set in, God gives us hope.
He allowed life. Sweet Gabi is now 14 months old and she. is. home. The baby who wasn't supposed to live... the baby who coded... the baby who was pronounced dead... went HOME. Even more, she wasn't sent home to die... she was sent home to THRIVE. Praise God for his goodness and mercy.
Psalm 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

This song is stuck in my head through all this. May I always have this attitude.
I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Thank you for the prayers of my Grandpaw. In the end, we all realized that his quality of life was so poor that it was almost easy to let go. He was a Godly man who very obviously put God first in all he did. I was in the middle of my off site at a hospital and at home health and so every day I spent time around the elderly. After spending day after day with these little people who had lost the ability to talk, swallow, think.... I find it a blessing that Grandpaw was teaching a Bible class the night before he entered the hospital. He did what he loved. No one could take that away from him. Every day that I was surrounded with people in the hospital with no immediate discharge date, I found myself thanking God for saving Grandpaw from that pain. It honestly made it easy to let go.
But that's just one difficulty of the summer. Yesterday I got an awful, awful text message and later a call about a dear classmate of mine. She gave birth to her daughter in May and yesterday found out that the baby had been left in the car all day. By the time the father realized what had happened around 3, the baby had already passed. My heart literally aches for this family. This morning at 15 to 8:00, I sat straight up in bed and immediately asked myself "Was that a dream? Is it over?" Sadly, no. It's only getting worse. Not only are they having to deal with the grief of losing a child, they are having to deal with awful comments from the general public judging them for what has happened. People attacked my friend for being an awful mother and saying things such as she doesn't deserve to be a mother, when she wasn't even there. It doesn't matter who left her at this point. It matters that the family can pull through this. Please, pray fervently that the Lord can heal their wounds and help their marriage survive.
Two deaths... One sad but joyful, the other tragic. Just at the point that despair might set in, God gives us hope.
He allowed life. Sweet Gabi is now 14 months old and she. is. home. The baby who wasn't supposed to live... the baby who coded... the baby who was pronounced dead... went HOME. Even more, she wasn't sent home to die... she was sent home to THRIVE. Praise God for his goodness and mercy.
Psalm 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

This song is stuck in my head through all this. May I always have this attitude.
I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty


I don't remember now whose funeral it was, but a couple of years ago I found myself, for the first time, feeling almost excited for the person who had passed, instead of just feeling sorry for the family. It was someone like your grandfather who had lived a good, long life, and was completely ready to move on to the next one.