Hug your Husband

My cousin Justin died yesterday.

There is just no way to sugar coat that awful truth.

{I am so grateful that we got to share one last dance.}

My favorite cousin, a young father of three with one on the way, an amazing man... died yesterday morning in bed with his wife from a heart attack.

As if that news wasn't devastating enough, we also found out yesterday that my aunt {Justin's mom} has cancer.

The last several weeks I have been working on writing a bible study on Infertility, mainly focusing on why God allows suffering.  I have been studying Job, and reading about his response when everything was stripped away from him... loss after devastating loss.  And yet his faith never crumbled.  Job praised the Lord in the midst of unthinkable loss.

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
      and I will be naked when I leave.
   The Lord gave me what I had,
      and the Lord has taken it away.
   Praise the name of the Lord!”

Job 1:21-22

In times such as these, it would be so easy to blame God, to be angry with God, to curse, complain, weep, and wail at God, but today I am clinging to the promise that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." {Romans 8:28}

While my family is shocked by the news and events of yesterday, God is not surprised.  I find comfort and hope in that truth.

Please pray for our family at this time.

Pray for Justin's wife Stephanie, and for the health of her unborn baby.  I do not want to even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow she is experiencing.  Pray for an unexplainable peace and for strength to get her through these next few days of decision making and funeral preparation.

Pray for my Aunt Jodi who is not only facing the reality that she will never again be able to hold her baby in her arms, but is also facing the battle of her life, fighting against these horrible cancer cells that have invaded her body.  Pray for strength for her... strength to fight.

Pray for my Uncle Ed who has lost his son, and now needs to walk his wife through a painful journey of treatment.

Pray for Justin's brothers and sister, for peace at a time when their whole world seems to be crumbling.

And pray for those three beautiful boys that are facing a lifetime without their daddy. 

Now go hug your husband.  Hold on tight and don't let go.  Tell him how much you love him, and how important he is to you.  Remember that this lifetime is but a blip, and use this as a reminder that our focus should be on eternity.