they are not dead

They are not dead (author unknown)

They are not dead,
Who leave us this great heritage of remembering joy.

They still live in our hearts,
In the happiness we knew, in the dreams we shared.

They still speak in the echoes of the words we've heard them say again and again.

They are not dead;
Their memory is warm in our hearts, comfort in our sorrow.

They are not apart from us, but part of us,

For love is eternal,
And those we love shall be with us throughout all eternity.


We have felt your presence, in so many ways, this weekend, Sister. We love you.
g

thank you, friends

Tomorrow our daughter, Emily, will be married to a fine young man, Jon Newlin. Our Kathy would have been all over this! She would have known just what to do. I never realized how much I have grown to depend on her... her advice, her help....Thinking of things like this was so easy for her...her mind was so quick and decisive...it is hard for me, sometimes, I don't have a clue as to what to do.

God has sent me incredible help for this task. My family...,Mom, Dad, Deb, Mike, and Crystal... Joy is even here from California (I am very excited about this).

My most unexpected help, though, has come from a little group of women that I call the FOK's (Friends of Kathy). They are a group of ladies whom Kathy did all kinds of little projects with...the ladies she talked to...and was involved in their lives...some of her most dearly loved friends.

These friends are so kind and helpful and dependable. They do what they promise they will do, and they do it with prayers and smiles and deep love for us and Kathy. What a special blessing they have been to me and my family. What a gift from God (and Kathy).

Thank you, friends...what would I do without you?

g

mother's day

So tomorrow is yet another special day that will remind us all over again of what has been lost. I will be glad when this first year is over. It’s like you can almost touch what happened last year…but yet it is so, so far away….

I am clinging to the promise of Psalm 91:4:

“He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

This verse paints a lovely picture of God acting as a mother would…protecting her helpless children…giving her very life for them.

It is actually in times such as these that I realize the power of the love that our Father has for me. I have come to the end of myself, and I find the very heart of God…

Lord, I’m trusting your promise…be a father… a mother…to all children, everywhere, who need you,
g

somewhere down the road

“So much pain and no good reason why
You’ve cried until the tears run dry
And nothing else can make you understand
The one thing that you held so dear
Is slipping from your hand
And you say
Why, why, why
Does it go this way
Why, why, why?”
(Amy Grant, “Somewhere down the Road.”)

So many unexpected things happen in life. Many of them are kinds of death….the death of a life, the death of a marriage, the death of a relationship; the end of a dream, the end of a friendship, the end of a career; someone leaving, someone moving, someone changing; something taken, something lost, something misconstrued…all death…all having to say good-bye to an old way, a comfortable way…moving from the known to the unknown.

“Why, why, why?” I have found that my God is not angered or intimidated by my “whys.” Back when the twins first got sick, I thought about this a lot. I asked “why” many times. Why do such hard, painful things happen to some people? Why did God “choose” certain people for their particular trials…why did He allow the things that happened to them, to happen?

Through it all, I have concluded that God does not “pick” trials for people…life just happens to all of us…sometimes, our genes determine what happens…sometimes our choices determine what happens…at other times, the choices of other people determine what happens to us. Life happens to us because we are humans, living the human experience. God, in his infinite demonstration of love, gave us, humans, choice. In doing that, He gave us control of things that, at times, we don’t have the good judgement to control (Remember Adam and Eve and their choices… remember me and some my choices?).

So “why, why, why?” I’ve come to the conclusion that Isaiah 55:8 says it best:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.”

The important truth I have learned is that I do not have the where-with-all to understand it all. I do not have the answers…but HE does. When I trust him, he can work it all out, and he’ll work it out for my ultimate well-being.

So “… all I can say
Somewhere down the road
There’ll be answers to the questions
Somewhere down the road
Though we cannot see it now
And somewhere down the road
You will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road.”

thank you, Lord,
g

still

I am so busy…always moving…always thinking… always on “go.” I know this is the reason God has told me to be still…in fact, he has forced me to be still. I have a condition called fibromyalgia, and there are days, that I feel so tired and I hurt so badly, that all I can do is to be still.

As Psalm 46:10, in the Amplified Bible, says:

“Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!”


And as Hillsong sings in the song, “Still:”

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust.

I’m praying for quietness and trust to grow in my brokenness. I’m praying for his power and his rest to prevail in this storm.

g

i will rise

This Easter weekend, I am thinking about life and death a lot differently than I used to. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, gives me a hope that I think about daily. The song, "I Will Rise," by Chris Tomlin, says it so well.

"There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes."

How thankful I am that the grave is indeed "overwhelmed," and that there will come a day when this sorrow will leave my heart as I fly into the arms of eternity to be with him.

Thank you, God, for making a way for me,
g

blessed be your name

blessed be your name

The song, “Blessed Be Your Name, “by Matt Redman, speaks to me in a special way these days. It reminds me that, especially in these difficult and unsure times (in my life, in the lives of those I know and love, in the world), I can bless God’s name. I can bless him because his name is the only thing that can save me from all this pain and uncertainty…this craziness!

“Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be your glorious name.”

Lord, I praising you as I travel through this place I’ve never known before. I travel it, putting my hand in yours and blessing your name,

g