A Sad Goodbye

We took an unexpected trip to Ohio this past weekend to celebrate the life of Jason's grandma Small, who passed away last week. A sad event, but not an unexpected one, as Grammy had been very sick over recent months and fell and broke her leg right after the New Year. Sometimes when someone is in pain and suffering, the sadness co-mingles with the joy that they are in a better place, you know? That Grammy is now at the feet of the King makes me smile. We were very happy that we'd been able to see her and have such a good time at Christmas, which we recognized at the time as a big blessing.

It was absolutely frigid in Mount Vernon while we were there--Saturday morning it was below zero when we left the house, and I think the high was about 15 degrees F for the weekend! It was nice to get an extra chance to spend time with the family again. We enjoyed the chance to visit with Justin and his girlfriend April briefly, we went to see True Grit (v. good), and on Sunday afternoon we drove a couple of hours to have lunch with some good friends from when the family lived in Pennsylvania when Jason was young. That was a real treat.

Sad moments like these, when they come, remind me of what Jesus has done for me, how He died so that I could be reconciled with Him. We've been talking a lot about reconciliation lately, about God's amazing powers to restore us to the people He created us to be, to restore the world, to restore our relationships with each other. When I have a God who can make things right again, I feel foolish that I don't always trust Him to do so. What a relief to live in His power instead of my own!