I can’t stop thinking about this, so I had to share. Change of tone.
On Monday, I went to a play date at a nice Starbucks with a
couple girlfriends. While our kids
played in a mini kids corner, I walked over to the counter. As I held Carter in my arms, I ordered my
favorite-Chai Tea Latte-my first Starbucks drink in over 6 months (!!). Both the barista and the woman behind me were
admiring Carter and making him smile, then shyly burrow his head in my neck,
then look up at them with another smile, and repeat. The woman behind me said, “Excuse me. He is beautiful. Such a happy baby. God has just told me to share with you that
he will be a great friend to others with much loyalty.”
I smiled and said, “Thank you”, unsure of how to respond
because I don’t know if I’ve ever received such a comment. For a split second, I debated about whether I
really believed her or not. I made the
decision to believe her because I want to believe her. Then, the first thing that crossed my mind
was, ‘I am so thankful that I will be able to see him be a friend to others one
day. I hope I am alive and he is alive
for me to see that. I would love to see
him grow.”
And I just keep thinking about this. My kids.
My precious time with them. My
life right now. God told me to tell you,
life is shorter than you think. He loves
you. He created you. He wants a
relationship with you. Don’t wait to get to know Him.
If you had asked me on Sunday, June 9th, 2008, if
I think about death on a regular basis, I would say, “No. Why would I?” That Sunday, Mom went to an urgent care down
the road for a headache. She got
migraines often. Then on Wednesday, she
was with one of the best doctors in the country at Duke Medical Center,
diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma multiform. Brain cancer. Three months before our wedding. With her first grandchild just 6 months old. She was 53 years old. She died in her sleep early Thursday morning. I have thought about death almost daily since
June 13th, 2008. Maybe you
think this is morbid, or unhealthy, or that I should maybe see a
counselor. My question is, why wouldn’t
you ever think about death?
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a
heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12
I believe this to and that message gives you insight into what God can do in Carter's life. You will both guide he and Maddie to love Christ and let him lead you. I lost my husband when I was 37. Lindsay lost her mother when she was a teenager. We both think about death, but in a way that guides us to reach for everything that God has in store for us. It also makes us want to share our faith; which is what you do in every blog that so many of us love. You allowed God to lead you to meet the right wonderful man in your life, to move across the country to Oregon, to follow your husband with two babies to Switzerland. No, thinking about death the way you do is not morbid, its the way you worship and live your life. Keep on doing what you are doing and many of us are praying for you and your wonderful family. Merry Christmas.
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