God's Kindness

 God’s kindness. I am so often reminded that God goes before us.

Our week has felt beyond sad and frankly shocking as my husband’s mother Sheila (or in our house “Nana”) unexpectedly passed away Wednesday morning. The finality of death is simply hard for those of us left behind.  While the difficulty and pain of grief is unavoidable, God’s kindness feels equally unavoidable.

Blake often travels yet he was within 30 minutes of the hospital where his mother was taken Wednesday morning.  It is Jackson’s and Ella Kate’s spring break, yet we were in town and the busyness of sports and homework were paused. Blake’s sister had a coworker who is also a good friend right beside her when she got the call about her mom. And tonight Blake and I have tickets to see a comedian—tickets I requested in November as a Christmas gift, and the very first time Blake and I will ever hear a comedian live together. This is no mistake. God knew we would need exactly this experience tonight.

And tomorrow is Easter.  We will celebrate Jesus rising from the dead after a brutal death on the cross. We will celebrate the Savior we were promised and desperately need. It is also the holiday we have always hosted and spent with all four of Blake’s parents. Nana always cooks the ham, Sugar Pops makes the deviled eggs, Gan prepare green beans, and Poppy helps hide the eggs. And tomorrow Nana isn’t going to be there, although Blake will cook the ham she had, of course, already purchased. Just typing this leaves me so incredibly sad.

Yet I am certain the timing of Nana’s death and Easter is no mistake, and I trust that God goes before us and that we will feel his kindness time and time again in the coming days. Praise be for a God who sees us in our grief, who is near to the brokenhearted, who uses countless friends and neighbors and coworkers to be His hands and feet here on earth, and who loves us even when we fail to love Him well. Happy Easter friends. May you feel God’s kindness regardless of where you find yourself this Easter.

Here's a photograph from last Easter--our last Easter

all together.