There is no part of me that will ever not cringe when I hear about the tornado refered to as an "accident." There is not even a SHADOW of a doubt in my mind that long before that little roadside stop was built that there was a plan and a PURPOSE. No one but the Author of life--the One who holds our days in His hand lined up that tornado and Gary and Kim's car.
And I'm OK with that. It was HIS timing, HIS purpose, and HIS reasons. And...knowing that He IS merciful, gracious, and loving--his plan could only be working for the good. Something I feel a little guilty about is how much I am learning. But on the otherhand...I can hear Kim whispering over my shoulder that she doesn't mind giving her life so that I can find my way into a fuller and more abundant life with Christ here. She would have. If given an all knowing choice.
So...for as long as I learn them...and as long as I need to...I am going to post lessons learned.
The first an immediate lesson learned however...is to treasure you sister-in-laws. Sisters too...but I only have in laws sisters...so thats how it sounds in my head. I have always deeply loved them...but now...they are even more precious to me. I could hardly stand to tell Crystal goodbye. Hardly stand it.
I have loved hearing Neal's parents telling everyone how proud they were of "us girls" how good friends we were...how we kept in touch...and how we loved to be together. Neal's dad called Kim, Sally, and I the 3 musketeers. I find this ... touching...because there were really 4 and we can't leave out that Crystal.
I didn't have a sister growing up...and I wanted one sooooo bad. Bad enough that there wasn't ever a doubt that Addy wouldn't have had Ellie. :)
I will be making a greater effort to love on those special people in my life...because you never know. You NEVER know what will happen in the next five minutes.
And PS...I lost 20 pounds since those pictures were taken last year. I gained some back in the winter...but not all. Now that spring is here...I'll be attempting to ... unload some more. :)
Yes, the hugs goodbye lasted a little longer tonight than they have in the past.
ReplyDeleteHi Jayme, I cannot believe I have never seen your blog til just now--whenever I saw the link "Cloud Factory" on Sally's blog, I thought you were a real-live factory. Probably because she is an engineer??
ReplyDeleteI am so, so sorry for your loss and have been praying for your family. And now I will pray for your broken heart. And wow at what you just wrote about lesson learned--especially about this not being an accident and how everything is orchestrated by God. Amazing.
I can't wait to read more of your new blog entries and reading through your old ones too. Your daughters are unbelievabley adorable. And I love your name, you are such a cute girl:)
Jayme what an incredible post. You are a very strong person! Thanks for the lesson!
ReplyDeleteJayme, I love this #1 life lesson learned. I will certainly be calling my sister more. I'm so glad you and Sally and Crystal have one another...
ReplyDeleteLaura and I talked about the "accident" idea and I agree with you completely. Allan and I had actually discussed it before I talked to Laura, when we did our night of "what if's". Laura confirmed it when she described the area of where the tornado hit. That fact that one or two minutes either way could have made all the difference makes it too fathom any other way than to know that God was IN CHARGE.
I look forward to reading more of your Life Lessons. HUGS!!
If you remember the movie (and Disney does tend to mess up the story...) there WERE 4 Musketeers... eventually. The youngest whipper-snapper encountered the first three...this little sweet metaphor might be more accurate than it sounds at first.
ReplyDeleteYour hug meant a lot to me.
I am so glad that my pictures brought joy and meaning to the funeral. Your mom is so creative!