Heaven Got More Beautiful

On Tuesday of last week, I received some sad news: my Grandma had passed away.  We're not sure exactly what happened, but we suspect it was a blood clot.  We also suspect it was peaceful and painless, so that is something to be thankful for.

I am lucky that my grandma has always lived right down the road from my house.  She was a woman who always spoke her mind, good or bad, to a fault.  But everyone who knew her has to agree that she had nothing but good intentions.  She loved to make things beautiful, whether it was her garden or her home.  Everyone agrees that she was the original Martha Stewart.  I believe heaven is now a bit more beautiful with her there.

I know that my grandma believed her biggest accomplishment in her life was her children, and her grandchildren and now great-grandchildren.  She was always so proud of us!  She wanted nothing more than to make us feel special, and she did so in many ways.  She took each of us out shopping for our birthdays every year when we were young.  I'll never forget the Christmas she got all the granddaughters American Girl dolls -- one of the most special and favorite Christmas gifts I received as a child.  She decorated her house and set the table so that every detail was perfect at every Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter gathering.

I know she was one of my most "faithful" blog readers, and I will miss her comments about my pictures and posts.  I know she prayed diligently for Luke and I during my struggle to get pregnant, and she was so excited on the day last December when we told her that we were finally expecting!

I am so excited to say that my grandma was able to meet Scarlett about a week before she passed away.  God is so good!  I like to think that His reason that I was induced early was so that Grandma could meet her.

Much of last week was spent at my grandpa's house with the whole family.  It was so bittersweet celebrating Grandma's life and mourning her loss, all at the same time.  the girls of the family had an extra special time on Friday after the funeral going through all of Grandma's jewelry and scarves, and picking out pieces to remember her by.  

A box of memories...

The picture below was taken Tuesday night while we were all outside.  It was a rainy evening, but sometime before or after this, we saw the end of a rainbow appear in my grandparents' garden.  It was a perfect reminder of God's faithfulness and the peace He offers us during times like these.

It is so sad to say goodbye, but I am so blessed to have had such a special woman in my life for 28 years.  I will miss her, but I know she has left a legacy in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  She was a wonderful Christian woman, and she has passed her faith down through the generations!  I will miss her so much, but I'm so glad she is in a place where she will have no more pain or suffering!

Life and Loss

I took a spontaneous blog and Twitter break starting last Wednesday. It's been a week full of a lot of emotion, and I wanted to focus on the here and now. It's been refreshing!

I'll start at the beginning. I apologize if this is all over the place.

Last Wednesday, my cousin Rachel and her husband Jared invited us out to dinner with them. Rachel was due to have her baby any day, and it was so nice to spend an evening with the two of them pre-baby. I had a great time catching up with them, and was so happy that evening.

When we arrived home from our dinner, I received some terrible news. Candice, a woman and friend from church who had been having complications after the birth of her daughter a few days before, had taken a turn for the worst, and was not going to make it.

I couldn't believe this news. I begged and pleaded with God to perform a miracle and save this precious woman, as I'm sure countless other people did. However, an hour or so later, I found out that she had passed away.

I was in shock. I could not stop thinking about it the next day. I had spent New Years Day with Candice's family along with a few others. She took us on a tour of her new home and excitedly showed us where the nursery would be. Also, I had seen her at church just a couple of weeks before and everything was perfectly fine. I'm still in denial that she's gone.

It really puts everything into perspective. Life is so fragile; a gift that can be taken away at any moment. Thinking about this makes me want to spend more time with my loved ones. It makes me realize that my problems aren't nearly as big as they seemed just a few days ago. And it makes me see what the important things in life really are. I praise God for this reminder.

Candice was married with a 5-year-old son, and her newborn daughter who was born a few weeks premature, and is still in the hospital. I am so thankful that Candice is in a much better place, away from the pain and suffering of this world. But I really feel for her husband and children. They could use a lot of prayer.

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After this tragic news, I woke up on Friday morning to the news that my cousin Rachel had had her baby! A little girl named Elin Rose (pronounced like ee-lynn...long "e" sound :-)). What a blessing after the difficult days before! I had the chance to visit this sweet baby in the hospital on Saturday, and it was such a giant blessing! What a miracle new life is! Again, what a blessing it is to have life!

There's my sister Julie holding baby Elin, and my Aunt Beth in the background holding my other baby cousin Hudson who was born just a month ago :-)

To say that the past week has been an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. Seeing death and new life all at once has changed the way I've looked at things in the past few days. I have learned a lot in the past week, and things have really been put into perspective for me. A little break from the Internet was very nice to try to reconnect with the people I love most in the world.

I'm going to close this post with the verse that was written in Candice's room at the hospital. I thought it was so fitting as Candice was a beautiful, Christian woman who always seemed to follow the Lord with all she had. Luke and I were in a Bible study with Candice and her husband a couple of years ago, and they were a great example to us.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." ~Psalm 116:15

Sonshine

(As you can see to the right, I finally joined Twitter to see what the fuss was all about. Please feel free to follow me, I have no followers yet!)


Yesterday was Scott's funeral. It was definitely unlike any funeral I've ever been to, but in a good way. It was raining cats and dogs when I got to the church before it began. I was SOAKED, despite the fact that my sister and I were sharing an umbrella outisde.

The service began with Luke's band playing 3 or 4 upbeat worships songs. Angela said Scott would have wanted us all to rock out in remembrance of him, and I think she's right :-) The last song they played was a Casting Crowns song, "Praise You in this Storm." It was the perfect song, and Angela is claiming it as her own in this time. My favorite lyrics in the song are in the chorus: "I'll praise you in this storm, and I will life my hands. For you are who you are, no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hand. You never left my side. And though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm." And that song is so true. God doesn't change no matter what situation we are going through. And there is always the promise of "sonshine" when the rain stops.

Our youth pastor, Alex, led the service. Angela had asked him to, because he and Scott had worked together with the middle school youth group and had gotten to know each other pretty well over the past few years. After the worship songs were over, he invited anyone to share a story, thought, or memory about Scott. This part of the service went on for a whole hour because so many people had so many great memories to share about Scott. He was completely full of life and there was never a dull moment while he was around! So we laughed and cried as people shared their memories.

Then pastor Alex gave a small sermon (for lack of a better word) about Scott and his relationship with the Lord. It was at that time that I remembered a moment back in the spring from our young adult Bible study. Scott and Angela were in our Bible study, and I remembered Scott coming with a heavy heart one week. When we were giving prayer requests, Scott said that his family had just really been on his heart and mind all week. He didn't have the closest relationship with his parents or brothers. None of them were saved, and they weren't interested at all. They would pick on Scott and make fun of him for becoming a Christian. Scott was worried about their reckless and unhealthy lifestyle. He just wanted them to listen to the message, and have their hearts softened to be able to receive it. And I don't claim to know God's plans or His reason for doing things, but I do know that he has a reason for EVERYTHING. Even Scott's death. And at the service yesterday, Alex told the story of The Prodigal Son. He compared Scott to the story, and shared how he had been living in sin, but completely surrendered his life to the Lord and became saved. Alex shared that anyone can make the decision that Scott did, and accept Jesus as well. He shared that he knew that's what Scott wanted more than anything. And I trust that God has softened the hearts of Scott's family and friends, and that at least they listened a little more closely yesterday while Alex spoke. So as sad as this situation is, Scott is in heaven now, and because of that, his prayer from the spring may have been answered yesterday. There's nothing to do but rejoice about that!

And after the service, as we walked out to our cars for the procession to the cemetery, the rain had stopped. It was beautiful and sunny outside. Only for about an hour, but it reminded me of "Praise you in this Storm" and how God will always bring the sun out again in our lives. Angela, Scotty, and Dillon (his wife and two sons) are in the midst of a horrible storm in their lives right now, but the sun will come out again!

It took a whole hour to get to the cemetery because we could only go about 35mph in the funeral procession. But after that, we had a beautiful "lunch" (it was almost 4:00 by that time, so it was more like an early dinner :-P) at a golf course down the road from the cemetery. It was a completely draining day, so late that evening, I made a pizza and Luke and I watched a movie while we ate it. And when I laid down in bed last night, I realized how I need to cherish every moment I have with Luke. A few tears came down my cheeks as I realized how much I'm sure Angela cherishes EVERY memory she and Scott ever made. It really puts things into perspective.

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I want to leave on a lighter note...this has been a heavy post so far! Tonight, JC and Luke are making cornhole boards as gifts for Father's Day, so I'm making dinner for them both. I decided to make a dessert too.

I took care of my cousin's plants while she was on vacation, so she gave me this as a "thank you."

It's a mix for a chocolatey dessert....here it is all finished
It turned out kind of disgusting-looking, but I think that's the point! And the little gummi-frogs crack me up. It is a well-known fact around here that I have a serious fear of frogs. Weird, I know. Snakes or spiders are no big deal, but show me a slimy frog, and I'll run in the other direction. Anyway, Rachel thought they were gummi worms when she bought it, and later realized they were actually frogs. Which she thought was even more perfect for me! lol

So we'll have that for dessert tonight. Have a great Thursday!!

Prayer Request

I am writing this morning with a heavy heart. I got a call this morning saying that a friend from church, Scott, was killed in a motor cycle accident last night. I guess he wasn't wearing a helmet and was going too fast through an S curve, and just lost control. He hit his head on something and died instantly.

Scott was such a special guy. He just became a Christian a little over a year ago. Before that, he had been completely addicted to drugs, alcohol, and partying all the time. He had 2 children from different relationships, and was married to a woman who wasn't the mother of either of the kids.

A couple of years ago, his wife, Angela, started coming to church. She had been addicted to drugs just like he had, but their marriage was falling apart, and she thought that coming to church with her family was the last resort. After a long time of healing, Angela became a Christian, decided to become sober, and wanted to work out her relationship with Scott.

It was a long road, but Scott and Angela restored their relationship, they both became sober, Scott started coming to church, and became a Christian! They both even started helping with the middle school youth group. That's how Luke and I got to know them so well. They were always so much fun, so on fire for God, and such a good example to the kids. Scott laughed and joked that Luke and his friends acted crazier and had more fun sober than his old friends did while they were drinking or using :-P

Scott and Angela won a custody battle for one of Scott's sons (he already had custody of the other one). I guess his son's mother is unstable and still does a lot of drugs. So Scott and Angela and his two sons became a happy little family.

So I'm praising God so much that He restored Scott's life a little over a year ago. I'm happy that Scott's sins have been forgiven, he has accepted Jesus as his savior, and is probably dancing in heaven right now. That makes things seem so much happier.

But my prayer request is for his wife, Angela, and their two sons. Scott and Angela did EVERYTHING together. They just bought a new house that they were fixing up together, and they even worked together in their own business. I don't know how Angela could keep the business going by herself. So pray for her healing, and that she's able to make it financially. And also for Scott's sons. Angela hadn't adopted either of them, so I'm guessing they will be sent back to live with their mothers. And I know that Scott and Angela were providing a much more stable life than they will have now.
One last thing before I go...if you ever ride a motorcycle, please wear a helmet! It has always made me mad when I see people riding on them without helmets. I think it should be a law that you have to wear one, like seat belts. Well, maybe it is a law in some states, but not Ohio. If Scott had been wearing a helmet, he would probably be in a hospital right now, just being treated for a few cuts and bruises.

Thanks in advance for your prayers, and have a nice Saturday.