give and take.

it has been an interesting week so far. this weekend we found out that my sister, megan could be having landry at any time. new life being born so soon. a breath of air breathed deeply into the life of a beautiful girl by a Father who loves her far more than any earthly man or woman could. in the same weekend, we heard news that a close family friend and "almost second daughter" to my dad lost the battle with cancer late Saturday night. at only 32 years of age, Kelly went to be with our Lord leaving two beautiful girls under the age of 7 behind here on earth. To me this week is such a paradox. The Lord giving new life to our family and yet taking away another precious life to be with Him far earlier than planned by our own eyes. 

death is such a hard concept to grasp. it is not natural and it is not easy. i remember back a few years ago when david passed away, i wanted to be angry at the Lord for all of the pain and hurt i was feeling. i was looking for someone to blame. ultimately, we don't know why the Lord chose to take kelly or david home to be with him this early, but we do know that the Lord is good and He is faithful. i believe, sometimes the Lord takes a life in order to draw others closer to Him. i know the only way i was able to process and grieve through the loss of david was to see the amount of people who were spurred on and drawn to the cross of Christ in that time. it is a blessing for me to know that ultimately david completed on this earth what his life dream and goal was. i remember a specific conversation on valentine's day at cold stone in college station my freshman year talking to david and hearing about his previous battle with cancer before his present remission. i asked him if he was ever scared about the cancer coming back (just a month before it returned). his response with confidence and without waver was "if the Lord could bring one more person to Christ by me going through cancer again then I would go through it over and over for His Glory alone". Ultimately, i know of around 17 people who would not be walking intimately with our Lord if they had not walked through David's final bout with cancer. 

this week just serves as such a paradox in my life. He has taken Kelly early to be with Him, and yet in a few short days we will be experiencing new life with landry entering the world. this is such a reminder that the Lord's plan is perfect, and our day are numbered. events like these define your life, in the sense that they make you stop in your tracks and reevaluate what is important and vital in this life. above all, the gospel and our work for the eternal kingdom is of the most importance in this life, so i pray that we might take this reminder to spur us on to speak Truth and Love to others around us. He is to be glorified, He is to be praised, and He is to be trusted in these hard times of suffering and in these new stages of life. He alone is good, and loves us far more than we deserve. 

so we celebrate a life lived well and wait in anticipation for the start of another's journey to knowing Him...