Waiting for Heaven

We had a lovely (literally! Did you see our backyard?!) weekend. We got through a lot more boxes, I got my tomatoes & cucumbers planted, we went out with our friends here Saturday night, we went back to that church, and Kyle Busch swept the NASCAR weekend. :-P (It still tickles me that I am CHOOSING to list that as a weekend highlight! :-D)

But my heart is so very heavy... An old friend from home just had a son, Carter, 5 weeks ago. (His sister & I were BFFs in elementary school; I spent AGES at his house!) Carter was perfectly healthy, until they went to the doctor last Tuesday, b/c his temp was very low. He had contracted bacterial meningitis, and is now terminal. They've set up an update page through the hospital (what a blessing to have a central info location, so no one has to make 500 excruciating phone calls!) and I can't stop stalking it. I've had closer friends go through horrific stuff with their children, but for whatever reason, this is cutting right to my core. Please pray for Carter & his family - for God's will, for His peace that passes all human understanding, for him to feel no pain, for this to make their family stronger together instead of ripping them apart with grief, for miracles to come out of this situation. (If you want to read their whole journey over the last week & their latest updates, here's the page.)

In an odd (nay, providential) twist of timing, the last week people have been talking  nonstop about the book Heaven is for Real. Y'all know I have a shabby track record when it comes to reading, much less in any sort of timely manner...but the thought of this book has been sticking with me closely - even before I knew a thing about Carter. My radio station has talked about it, and then he was on the Today show this morning. I just went straight out & bought it. (JB will be proud - I never buy books! :-P) Of course I will post whenever I do get through it, but I feel there is a sense of national shared experience surrounding this book right now, and I want to share in it...

From Journey to the Cross:
God's power neither competes with us nor seeks to dominate us. It loves us, shares itself with us, and sustains us. Dear God, forgive me for the times I have withdrawn from you. I did not understand you wanted me to share in your overflowing being. Thank you for your empowering peace. Amen.