The week my Granny was dying she asked me if I could see it. "See what?" I asked her. Now this happened several times. Some of you may not remember this by my Granny didn't know who I was for several years before she died. She did have some clarity the days before her passing but otherwise she hadn't known me in years. I would tell her who I was. She was always loving towards me. I think her soul knew she loved me....her mind just couldn't remember why. So when you are in this state you don't act politically correct. In her latter years she thought her doll was a real baby. She would sing to it the same lullaby she sang to me when I was a baby. She same song she sang to Ryder and Rylee when they were babies. She would ask children for their candy. She would think marbles were candy! She would say rude things sometimes. Nothing like her normal self but a sort of untamed one. I sometimes wish I had this courage. So, I tell you all this so you can know that she didn't feel the need to say things just to make anyone feel better. She just said what she thought was truth.

The week that she died she asked me if I could see him. "See who?" I asked her. She said, "Jesus and he has brought the children." I couldn't see him. I wish I could. She could. She put her hands out towards him...she would point to the children all around the bed. I whispered for her to "Go!' Even though my heart wanted her to stay. I was jealous that I couldn't see what she could see. I wanted to. Isn't it amazing that though she never saw Jesus with her eyes it was He that she knew...not us the ones she lived with but the ONE who knew her...Jesus.

My faith and hope aren't always high. My unbelief sometimes overwhelms my faith. This frustrates me because I want my belief to be firm. Sometimes the tide of grief over takes the ground that my feet are standing on. This week is one of those weeks. So I remember that in the end when I am ready to drop this earthy tent it will be Jesus that I see. The ONE who really knows me. Maybe I will get to see him a few days before. Maybe He will bring the children too. Maybe I will smile like Granny smiled when she saw Him. It is Jesus that makes it worth it. Every struggle....every tear...all the waiting....all the missing....all the struggle..... the hope that Jesus is the Omega of my life.

Longing

One year and two months ago today Regan died. I know not everyone keeps track of a date like this. People in new relationships count like this. Most mothers do until their child turns two. Maybe that is when I will let all this silly counting go or maybe I never will. Only time will tell. The day that Regan died profoundly changed my life. It might be the biggest day in my life. I have never watched anyone die. Brian has had several opportunities to be with people and their families during the moment of death. These moments are precious to him....Reg's is of course a stand out but still it is precious to watch someone drop their body and be with Jesus in this paradise. I miss her worse as time passes. I am sure as time moves on it will let up. I don't tell most people this because most have moved on. I however have not....this whole thing is difficult.

I like to walk down the rows of flowers in gardening centers. Yesterday while I waited for my friend Laura to by spray paint I took a stroll through the flowers at ACE. I put my face to the sky and let my hands pass by the flowers on both sides. I whispered "I miss you Regan." Sounds crazy because I know she can't hear me but I have to say it out loud or I feel I will burst. I wonder if paradise smells like sweet flowers. I wonder as I listen to doves sing and robins tweet "Are these the sounds my sweet baby sings with?" and "Are these the smells that fill her cute little nose?" (This nose was perfect for kissing and I assume that it looks the same now because it was alreay perfect.) I picture her there walking....sometimes I lay in my grass on my back by her grave maker that is in my yard and look up at the sky. I wonder if she gets to lay in the grass and watch the blue sky. (This is a side bar but I hope in the new heaven and new earth we still mow because I love to mow and I love the smell of fresh cut grass.) I don't think I ever let Regan lay on the grass...I was too afraid of bugs biting her. Plus she hated bright lights so facing the sun wasn't enjoyable to her. She laid on blankets in the grass with her head on our laps. I only have one memory of her on the grass and it was while we took family pictures on our first first Easter in Lincoln.

This longing I have to be with Regan is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I have never longed for anything as much as I do this.....it is teaching me what a true longing for God feels like. I have always wanted to know God and the power of his resurrection but now my mind understands a deeper longing...one the is more pure and firmly set. I keep praying that God would teach me to long for Him like I long to be with her. I am sure this will be a life long process. I am stubborn. But He is making my heart more purely passionate for Him.

Over that past few weeks I have been stretching my mind and spirit around the idea that God longs for me. He longs for me to stop and set down with him. To be aware that we are always together. Just like I long for Regan or even now how I want Ryder or Rylee to come and set with me and "chat it up" or share their life with me. I understand that I will always love my children more than they love me. So my desire is for them more than their desire is for me. This is the way proper parenting should be because they can't out love me. So, I think this reveals God's love for us. Sometimes I forget that my desire for relationship with God isn't one sided. He wants me too. As a matter of reality He loves me more than I could ever love him.

When I was a new christian I listened to Rich Mullins all the time. He was one of my early spiritual influences. One of his songs says, "In this reckless raging fury that we call the love of God." This description keeps running in my brain. This is not an angry rage but a powerful and intense love. Like a storm that rages. God loves me with a raging fury. He will do ANYTHING to have relationship with me except make me.

I feel blessed to feel this fury. I want my life to be a full awareness of Ps 139. That he knows me all of me. That no darkness can hide me. That in him there is no darkness only light. "The night shines like noonday sun." Often I think that I am away from God or that parts of my earthy experiences are hidden. But this is not truth. The truth is...He will do ANYTHING to have relationship me with. He is in hot pursuit after me. No amount of longing I could ever have for him can compare to HIS desire for me. He is always with me. He always knows me. He is always searching my heart for truth. He doesn't look at what I do or don't do...He looks at ME. He wants me. That even feels weird to write. But it is true....He wants me.

I don't know why....

Over the past few months I have noticed nearly every weekend the saddening sight of the "kid exchange". My sister is divorced. So I know about it. I have seen it go well and go poorly. My sister is an amazing woman who has had to navigate waters I will never know. She is now remarried to an awesome man, Brad. We love him dearly but she spent several years as a single mom. She was actually always a single mom but I won't go any further than that. Single mom's are the hardest working women on the plant. So, I am no stranger to "the kids are at their dad's" weekend. However, recently I am catching all kinds of families as they make their exchange. I saw one family in MO, I saw one round the corner, I saw one at the laundry mat, I saw one in Indiana.....there have been lots more but you get the picture. I know they are not married by the way the two interact with each other...coldly. The kids are sometimes asleep, they are various ages, but the whole thing just makes me sad. Now, I am glad that my sister got the divorce that she got. They probably shouldn't have ever been married....the best part of their relationship is my nephew. He is one of my favorite people. Recently for no apprent reason I am overwhelmed with this thought....."Thank you God that you are always with those children." I can't imagine the pain of letting my kids go every other weekend to someone else's house. That is a lot of time you are missing out. That must be a comfort to parents who have to endure it. God is with them even when I am not.

This is no statement about divorce or dad's or mom's who are single. Like I said my sister went through it. My husband's parent's are divorced. So, please do not think that I am looking down on these families. I just have noticed it more lately and wanted to write a little about it. My eyes are open to it for some reason. I feel a pain in my heart as I watch them....these strangers I don't know....and sometimes I cry because I feel sad for them. I say a prayer for their kids. I say a prayer for the mom and the dad. I pray peace and mercy. I say a prayer for myself that I never have to do that. I credit my marriage only to the grace of God. Like I said, it is just something I have been noticing.....I don't know why....maybe God just wants me to remember that He is always with us no matter where we go even if it is to Dad's house for the weekend.

Some Canyon Thoughts

We recently went to the Grand Canyon. There is nothing that can describe it. Words fall short..pictures don't do justice....but trust me when I tell you that you must go there. Please go when your children are older because there are hardly any rails which makes it great and terrifying all at the same time.

While I was there each day I would think about the pioneers or native Indians who would happen to arrive at this canyon. How it must have been difficult to explain to someone how vast it is. How people probably didn't believe them because it just seemed unreal. It didn't seem possible that earth could look like this. Then came along the photograph....now there is a witness to this truth...the Grand Canyon. See here it is. Now people travel year round to visit God's glorious canyon.

Now people arrive and say "This is bigger than I thought." "This is more vast than I could imagine." This place is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. People from all over the world travel to see this place that they have always heard of, seen picture of or studied in school. Everyone has the same experience. We all think...this is more amazing than I ever thought it could be.
I kept saying, "I have heard of this place my whole life and now I am actually here." Then I would say, "This is better than I ever thought it could be." For four days I did this over and over. We would turn a corner and say, "Amazing, it looks completely different here." Now I tell people and they don't understand. There eyes go blank because they really don't want to hear and they do not understand. Except for those who have been there too.

This got me thinking about heaven. How I have heard of this place my whole life and someday I will be there. I will say "This is better than I ever thought it could be!" I will say, "I have heard of this place my whole life and now I am actually here, I can't believe it I am here." "Jesus wasn't lying when he said it would be worth the wait."

Some people have a hard time believing Jesus and the words He said to be true. We have been waiting a long time. My faith often weak in this area because I want to see and feel and touch so I can know. I am a little like Thomas. While at the Canyon I kept thinking how John says, "No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man." Jn 3:13 He testifies to us about the values of heaven, who is great, who will be least and about what the Father is like. I must believe Him because He was there. Just like I was at the Canyon because someone had gone there and testified to me about it's grandness, so I went. Jesus is telling us about something higher, greater, better than anything we know. Even though I don't understand it because it is grander than I can wrap my mind around doesn't mean it doesn't exist. He paints a picture for us with words but those words will fall short because words aren't enough. It takes trusting Him and that is our journey to get there. He said that He was going back there to prepare a place for us. I trust that too. He says He is coming back for me...I trust that too. When the clouds part and Christ is there, the dead in Christ will rise first, then we will met them in the air. I wonder if we will say, "It is just as He said."

Come, Lord Jesus Come!

This picture was at sun set in the Canyon! AMAZING! Oh, He is coming for us!

What Remains

A few months ago I read this great book called "What Remains." It is a memoir written by Carole Radziwill. She lost her husband, her best friend and and her best friends husband within three months of each other. (Her best friend's husband was John Kennedy Jr). She speaks candidly about death and helping someone who is chronically ill. Her husband is died of a horrible cancer. This book has brought some healing into my life. Just to hear someone speak familarly about walking a road of suffering ....she talks a language I know. She writes it well. She is not Christian but pain is pain. Her suffering is familar to me. She doesn't talk about God I don't know that she knows God. God knows her so and I love this book. This book made me think about this....

We have a hope chest that was given to us by Brian's family. In it are many of the things we treasure most from Regan's life. The pill crusher we used multipule times a day..it still has the last dose that I had ready to give her. It was still setting on her bed along with a cup of water for flush it. In this box is her ducky towel we used for way to too long but worked so well after her bath. There is also the key to her coffin, some medical bands, her hair bows....the things that are left of a life and death. Her closet is still full...I don't know when I will ever get to all of that. Some things I have already given away. Most of it still remains in the closet.

Yet those things don't mean as much as my memories of her. This are not locked in a closet or shut up in a hope chest. They remain with me all the time. The flood back when I watch my tulips bloom, when I walk in my front door with out her, every night when I go to bed, when we set at the table to eat......these memories mean more to me than any token. Ultimately all that will be left of her life is a small box .....that will all that will be left of mine. So this spurs me on to what will remain after that.

Hope, faith and love remain this is the context in which I remember her. Mementos only comfort for a moment. If it is a really good momento maybe a few moments. I do love these mementos but they are limited. I need something else to help. The whole that left in my life can not be filled up by little sweet sweaters, cute socks and left over meds.....this feeling that CS Lewis says so well "Was I really made for this?" My heart says "NO!" I was made to know God and to be known by Him. To know God within the context of hope, faith and love........

A year later what remains are the memories of my baby....my love for her, my hopes for her future, my faith in the reality of her life today. Even though I don't know what her life is like I am trusting God that it is good and peaceful. But what also remains is my love for God, my hopes that He what tells me is true. My faith in His words to be true. One day my faith with be sight, there will be no more need to hope in, but love will remain. I like that.

A Year Later

She loved to travel. You can see the joy in her face from her wheelchair and our mini-van. They allowed us rich time together and a life full of meaningful experiences. Many of our trips were mundane, everyday, across town or for simple errands. Some were worried between home, doctors and hospitals for help. Others were migrations back to family. Wherever we traveled, we went there together.

Today that wheelchair has been empty for one year. That mini-van has stayed closer to home. And we miss her.

But, we have traveled more miles this year...in my truck, on airplanes and in an RV...

...to the mountains in Colorado...



...to the coast in Florida...



...to the ski slopes of Northwestern Illinois...





...to the Grand Canyon...












These were great adventures for us...to explore God's good creation, our own hearts, rich family community and a new future. We are grateful for so many wonderful opportunities to travel. But with every adventurous mile we feel further away from our dear Regan. And "together" means something new...something not altogether welcome...something less...four instead of five. Even though she would not have enjoyed most of these miles, and could not have participated in our odysseys, she had a gracious way of putting up with our pace. And we enjoyed the sweet spirit she shared with us.

On April 21, 2008 we buried Regan in Oklahoma's red clay.

I struggled painfully that day wondering where she was and what would happen to her little body. So I went to the cemetery at dawn, prayed and did a Bible study.

I was reminded of the beautiful image of "Paradise." It was pictured as a Persian pleasure garden or forest. It was a place of peace and rest for those who had overcome the struggle with victory.

Though scripture doesn't give us all the specificity we'd like, it does give us some assurance: "To him (her) who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Rev 2:7)

We had this inscribed on the front of Regan's headstone. And on the back we added,

"She ran her race with grace.
We were graced to run with her."

Oklahoma isn't really known for its pleasure gardens or forests...but we believe Regan is enjoying a well-deserved rest in the Paradise of God.

So, we'll continue to run our race with the grace he provides.

It has been a hard year, to be sure. But God has been faithful. And he continues to lead us forward. That's good for us, because we enjoy traveling, too. Just a little less without her.

Thanks for traveling with us.

-Brian

Whiter Than Snow

This week in first grade we have been learning about adding -er or -est to compare two or more than two things. So I would like to say that snow when it is almost April is very exciting and seems to look different than snow in February. We woke up this Sunday morning to four inches of snow.....

Snow is white.....We also woke up knowing today was the day that Rylee was taking up her cross to follow Christ.

"though your sins are as red as scarlet, I will wash them whiter than snow." Is 1:18

What a wonderful day! She celebrated with her Sunday School class...and her several of her close friends were all there to see the big moment. We will share via video tape with our family over the next few weeks......She has been wanting to take this step for several months. After lots of conversations and a few tears we decided she was ready. Here are some of our favorite things she said to us.
"I am ready for the privilege of calling myself a Christian."
"I know I am a fingerprint of God but I am smudged. I know only Jesus can fix it."
"My heart can go dark. I need Jesus to help it."
"I know I could die. When you watch someone die you wonder where you will go when you die. I know that when you die you either go to be with God or you don't. I want to be with God."

This sounds like ready to me. The fruit of repentance is a beautiful thing.


We also went to watch one of Brian's boys be ordained..it was really great. Brian and Chris have a special relationship. We are so glad to see him take his next step in ministry. (Brian had a scooter fall on his head of Friday so he has a big bump...he is not turning Indian.)


Ryder also was in a play called "God Spell" this week at LCC. They had four performances. He did a great job...one of his best. Here he is with his buddy Garrett and friend Hannah along with their mentors for the play. It made me cry to watch Ryder sing one of the songs in the play in which no other children were singing but it was his favorite of the play. It talked about walking a day in which we will walk side by side with Jesus..... Let the church cry out....."Come Lord Jesus Come!"

Their costumes were crazier than normal.
But this week was the craziest we have had in a while. Praise God who pours Himself out from generation to generation.