what a week!

last week was a long one for our family. shocking. surreal. sobering. that was the vocabulary of last week around here. our priorities were most definitely realigned, and all the material things in this world did not seem nearly as important as the precious, precious people that we call family.

last week was a roller-coaster of emotions... one minute we'd be pulling out the kleenex, knee-deep in the reality of the day... and the next, we were laughing and enjoying the fellowship of brothers and sisters by our side. i can't tell you how many times i said, "wow, it feels so good to laugh." God shouted His goodness and His blessings loud and clear to us last week. the phone calls, the help (the help!!!), the love, the prayers, the support. we are humbled beyond words at the way that our friends, church family, and people we hardly know have rallied around us during this challenging time. we have been encouraged. thank you.


i love this picture of brian, his brother, and their mom and dad. it's a great picture of all of them, but the reason i really love it is because this was taken last thursday, and they are all smiling. these folks experienced what was possibly the worst week of their lives, and look at them. they are smiling. and this is why...

God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. my mental itunes library has been shuffling through several songs over this past week that focus on that central promise of the Bible. He will never leave us. nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. i have believed those verses to be true, but now i know them. "blessed be your name" has been the theme song in my head, coupled with my one of my mother-in-law's favorite hymns, "o rejoice in the lord". i love the first line: God never moves without purpose or plan. that needs to go on a pillow, don't you think!? the other song that has tended to refrain in my brain is chris tomlin's version of "all the way my savior leads me". take time to listen to it if you don't know it already... i can't listen to it without a kleenex.


we can truly feel God carrying us close to His heart. and there's nowhere else i'd rather be. His goodness and mercy have followed us... to Him be the glory.