No Words

Corey & I are in Colorado right now spending time with our family as we grieve the death of our precious nephew Gabe. So many have asked how we are and how our family is... that is such an interesting question - one that has an understood meaning when it is asked but one that has no easy answer. We are sad. That is the short answer, but it is very incomplete. There is simply not a word or a phrase to describe "how" we are. We miss Gabe so much already. We are heartbroken when we see the pain of reality overtake his parents. The waves of grief and waves of normalcy come and go. One moment we are all laughing about strories from the past, the next we are crying over the smallest, most ordinary things that will forever be changed because without all of its members, our family has been forever changed. There has been peace though. Even through the horrificness of it all, we have hope. We know that becasue of Gabe's decision to accept Jesus as his savior, we will see him again someday. That does not take the sting of this situation away, but we can hold on to that hope.

We have been touched beyond words by the overflow of goodness that has come from people that we know and even some that we don't. Every single one of us in our family have had people go out of their way to ease the burden that we have to bear right now. Personally, Corey & I are thankful for so many things... My sister Emily & her husband Allan stepped up to the plate to take care of our kids this week while we are away... and many friends are helping with that job. We have friends that have brought us food and friends that are taking care of our dog. People have helped make our trip to Colorado possible. A person that we did not even know that works for the airline that my sister-in-law works for and had heard about our loss hunted us down in the Denver airport to see if there was anything that we needed. A friend that lives out of state offered to drive to Texas simply to help my family while I was away. Others in Colorado have offered us rides and beds and meals and cars. And countless others have offered to do anything that we might need. We are blessed.

Please pray for our family tomorrow as we remember Gabe in a memorial service at 1:00. Specifically, remember Corey's sister, Roxann, and her husband, David. God has given them grace to handle each step of this process... and tomorrow they might need an extra portion.

I have often said that in these kinds of situations, there are no words... No words to take the pain away. No words that make things better. Today, I also feel there are no words to express my gratitude for the love that others have shown us and our family.

There is good.

In this very, very bad situation, there is good!