Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement the past few months. Life has been interesting, difficult, encouraging, busy, unexpected and yet God remains true and faithful and my comfort and strength. It’s been a long time in coming for me to be able to face tough situations and still be able to say that!!!
My Dad’s passing, although a shock at the moment I found out has been a blessing too. He is whole again for the first time in soooo long and we are all thankful that God spared him from further suffering and frustration and took him home to Himself. He gave him a new body and mind and he is now complete in God’s presence. I couldn’t ask for more. I am so thankful that I was able to be home just 2 weeks before he went HOME and was able to tell him I loved him, he felt the baby kicking and I was able to just be there with mom with so many decisions to make. It’s amazing to me how looking back I can see that God knew all along that Dad wouldn’t be with us long. What was frustrating then (not being able to figure out the best placement for Dad after leaving the hospital) proved to not be an issue as God knew exactly what Home Dad would be going to and it wasn’t any that we looked at. It was an eternal home, far better than any nursing home or care facility in this world. Mom even had the instinct to make all the necessary ‘funeral’ arrangements before she left for California the week before Dad died. She didn’t do it because she thought he would be dying soon, she just felt like she needed to do it then to be prepared for whatever might come. This was so God, because Dad passed away while she was gone to Cali and when she returned, all the details were done. No stress, just the time to process what had happened. That’s Grace!
God again provided amazingly for us, my immediate family, to all go home together. The flights were great, the boys traveled well and we had a good week together with my extended family. Dad’s service was perfect and I think it truly honored God and was a celebration of my Dad’s life rather than mourning his death.
We have felt so much encouragement from friends and family and have truly seen the Body of Christ function as God intended! His grace in our lives is so evident and I can say He has been my rock and I’ve leaned hard on Him. Something else hit me a while back. If God hadn’t allowed all of the circumstances of our lives in the past few years, including the incredibly hard ones like leaving Papua, leaving Indonesia, sick kids, my journey to relearn what Faith is, etc. we would have likely been out of the country when Dad passed away and I would have melted down and certainly not been able to face it all. I would have crumbled. BUT, in His grace, He brought us through some amazingly difficult things all preparing us so that we could trust Him during this time. He allowed us to be home now and not have to face this from a far-away place. I am just amazed at HIM and His grace to me.
Sooo, Thank you! Thank you for feeling this with us, for praying us through the past few years, months and days.
We are home now and just had a great time with Joel’s family for Thanksgiving and an early Christmas together. My mom will be here in just a few weeks for Christmas and then not too long after that, Kate will make her arrival. I have given up on a quiet life of “normal” and resolved that God just doesn’t have that in His plans for us. I’ll take this life though and all that comes with it as I know He is molding us into His image with every circumstance that comes our way!
