comfort from a friend

I am here in NC for my cousin's memorial service. It was a long drive...getting stuck in crawling traffic for 25 miles through Raleigh! Bleck. I am not a very patient long-trip person...just ask Michael, he can tell you, lol. :) It was good to finally get here and see my aunt and uncle and my cousin Benjamin, who I am especially close to. They are doing ok and are drawing comfort from all the prayers and encouragement from comments and notes on their facebook page and Jonathan's page. Jonathan left an amazing testimony of a strong faith in Christ that makes me so proud to have called him my cousin. Here is just one of the comments on his wall written by a friend named Dakota:

"Jon, I love you & you will always be missed especially at this time in my life. You ultimately pursuaded me to keep my son regardless of what the doctors said. & now the doctors think I'll be fine. Because of you, I get to have even more joy in my life in a couple of months. Because of you I am a happy person. You are the best and I know your chillen with jenz right now until he comes & I'm really jealous ♥"

There is more than one comment like that - saying that Jonathan touched someone's life in a significant way.

I, myself, have had so much encouragement from friends this whole week. I had my kids all last weekend and was still down at their house with them Sunday evening when my parents came over to tell me the news. Shortly after they got there, Shannon and Michael showed up at the door and stayed with me after my parents left until my kids parents got home late that night. I crashed at Shannon's house for the night since I did not want to be alone that first night. I ended up having Monday off and pretty much sat on her couch all day, played with Jonathan (who started every conversation with me that day with "SO! Kiki. ...." :), and checked fbook and the news.

I have had so many sweet comments on my facebook page, emails, and even one comment on here. (Seriously, y'all, I love coming here to find someone posted a comment!)

This weekend is supposed to be my favorite weekend of the fall. I usually keep Michael's nieces and nephew this weekend and we always have a blast. I am missing being there so.much. it hurts. It's not fair. I shouldn't have to miss it. Because this should never have happened. But anyways, when all plans were totally up in the air and I didn't know if I would possibly get to have my kids even just for one day, I knew my house needed to be ready just in case but had ZERO motivation to clean. So my sweet friend, Laura, came over armed with ice cream and offered to help clean whatever I needed help with. She washed all the dishes stacked in my sink which was a HUGE blessing!!! If you know me very well, you know that hand washing dishes is my least favorite household chore EVER!! Bleck. After the plans for this weekend were finalized and I realized I would miss being with some of my favorite kiddos, Michael helped talk me through my disappointment and also my fears of going through a funeral/burial. I don't do well with funerals. I have issues. You can ask him. But he knows better than almost anyone how to calm me down, simply because he has known me the longest. (FYI, m, you might not be done...if you got the email I sent last night...)

So thank you to all of you who have prayed for, encouraged, and been there for me through this week. I appreciate it more than you know.

Yesterday, I found myself tagged in a note on facebook, written by my best friend, Shannon. It was sweet and encouraging and I wanted to put it on here so I will have my own copy of it and not lose it. (Hope you don't mind, Shannon... :)

(And blogger is being weird again, so it's not centering it properly...grr. Oh well.)

To My Friends and Family That are Grieving

Many of my friends and family are grieving the loss of loved ones. The sudden death of our dear Chaplin Cook at the Fort, the fatal shooting and death of my best friend's cousin, the more expected but ever painful death of my nephews other grandfather. Also, one of the most loving ladies at my church, her sister recently passed away and their family is still feeling the raw pain of her absence.

I just wanted to share with you something that gave me comfort. This is from my journal entry dated May 22, 2009, when my father in law was being taken away from us by a very aggressive form of cancer. Dave and Jonathan had gone to Murfreesboro for the last big family gathering before Bob's passing. I was in the middle of reading Isaiah and I came upon Isaiah 65:17-25. You should definately read the whole thing, but here is some of it: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind, But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth, he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed." Vs 17-20. "They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food." Vs 23-25 When Bob passed away I just kept remembering "the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there bein it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years."

To those who are going to funerals this weekend, please remember this. To those who are still grieving, please remember. Death is not the end for us. God remains in control. Hold fast to your faith. Keep the faith, as Grandpa Gibson used to say. In your moments of grief, say God is good, God loves me. I am his child. The faith that saves us is the same faith that will help us pass this test. It may falther, it may quaver and that's ok because true, genuine faith in our Lord and Savior, WILL get us through this. (Thanks for the sermon Pastor Chris)

I love you all and I hope reading this helps you as much as I was helped by processing through and typing it out.

His love endures forever.