Making Sense

I had an unusual Monday a few weeks back. I'm still trying to make sense of it and find hidden meanings - but I just don't think I can.

I got home from school and had a card from my aunt. I don't hear from her often. A sporadic Christmas card or message on my answering machine. In her card, she wrote about how much she loves me and enclosed a picture of palm trees, because she remembers how much I love them. (I'm wondering if when I was little on one of our trips to Southern California I commented on the palm trees, because we certainly didn't have them in Oregon!) It seemed like such a random card at the time.

While I was reading it, Dan told me I needed to call my dad. When I got him on the phone, he told me that my aunt had died over the weekend. I was sitting reading a card from her while I was being told that she was gone.

I'm still trying to figure out what the timing of events means. I know that it's been a rough couple of weeks for my parents - especially my dad. He lost his brother 5 years ago to leukemia at a young age - and now his little sister is gone as well. His parents have been gone since I was little.

One thing I love about my dad is his integrity and character in hard times. He was able to share his uncompromising faith at my aunt's funeral. He and my mom arranged for copies of Randy Alcorn's short book about Heaven to hand out at the funeral. 100 copies were gone before they knew it!

I continue to pray for my uncle and cousins. They have quite a road ahead of them as they navigate life without their wife/mom/grandma. Please join me in praying for their peace, comfort and faith.