SuperSunday

We went to 2 churches on Sunday - our church and the Lutheran church where Meredith goes to preschool. She had a singing engagement there today with the rest of the preschool kids. She was so happy and excited that Marky and Maddie were going to be able to watch her sing. The last time, they weren't able to. This was a special thing today. After church, we had a very nice long afternoon just being together as a family. It seems like we don't have tons of times like this and I just wanted to squeeze every bit of joy out of it. The girls played the Wii and then cars with Michael; we watched some home videos of a few of our vacations. That was wonderful!!! We decided to take a walk to the park and ended up cutting it short because it was getting very cold. Maddie was prompted by the home movies to get a haircut; she was so excited to get it done. She thought it was pretty handy to just walk downstairs and sit right down in the chair. She hung her sweater and her hat on the hooks that I have in the salon and announced "I can hang those there because tonight I'm a client!" So, she got a new hairdo - her spirits have been soaring ever since! The day was a beautiful one!!

Pain

Today I heard of 2 different stories of pain and suffering  At this moment, a set of parents is waiting in the ICU as one of their daughters fights to stay alive.  Earlier today, these parents said goodbye to their other daughter when she went to be with Jesus in heaven.  The 2 sisters were in a car accident.  The other story was from a mama telling of her baby boy, stillborn at 36 weeks.  Neither of these families are near and dear to me, they are just stories I encountered today. But the pain is so real to the storytellers, and they are suffering.  I am struggling tonight with these stories of pain.  This morning I read from Psalm 91:1-2 - "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare of the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I am trusting Him."  I still believe in what I read,  even though I wouldn't have a clue how to explain my belief to these hurting souls.  It is an unanswerable question, the one of "why do bad things happen to good people".  Someone much wiser than me would have to tackle that one.  The only thing I can offer is to humbly admit that"I don't know why", and also bravely proclaim "God loves you".  I put all of my trust in this.  I don't know what else there is.  Because my acquaintance to these stories is new and from a distant there is nothing more that I can do other than offer  prayers for them.  I believe that God is listening and He loves these people.  For my own burdened heart I will follow 

1 Peter 5:7 and "give all of my worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to me."

 

Growing

Here are some brand new photos of Tilly and her little ones. They have certainly grown.  I don't know how much longer they will be apart of our lives.  Eviction is around the corner,  I'm afraid.  I've really enjoyed it all but its starting to border on questionable having her SO near and dear to us.  Yesterday, she brought a rat "home" to feed her babies.  My goodness... my kids complain about MEATLOAF!  I could handle the squirrel and the rabbit.  But rats... mmmm... I just don't know.