An Exciting Easter Weekend

It was a memorable weekend. It started with looking for a couch. Krisula and I want to get a couch for our room next year, so on Friday we went to a couple of thrift stores to look for one. We didn't find any that we really liked. After we got back to campus we were looking on Craigslist to see if there was anything, and while we were looking, someone posted a free couch that looked pretty nice only about 10 minutes away. So we asked a friend if she would drive us there to get it. She, Krisula, Kurtis, and I went to get the couch, but by the time we got there (45 minutes after it had been posted), the couch was gone. We were all disappointed.
We decided we wanted to go to a Good Friday church service, which would mean we had to get back to campus and eat dinner and then leave in only about 30 minutes. So we were in a bit of a hurry. When we got back to campus, Sarah forgot we were going into the cafeteria rather than the dorm, so just as we were passing the main Whitworth entrance, Krisula said "Wait I thought we were going to eat" which made Sarah swerve and try to make the turn. We didn't. My thought process went something like this: Is she really going to turn? Oh my gosh, we're not going to make it. I've never been in an accident before. This is bad. Smash.....so this is what its like to be in an accident. Whoa that was the Whitworth Sign, this is a bigger deal than I thought. Sarah: "This did not just happen. This did not just happen. This did not just happen." About 30 seconds later a student came running over to us to see if we were ok, and the security guy came not long after. He was somewhat awestruck and couldn't quite make clear sentences or decide what to do next. None of us was injured as far as I knew at the time, except the poor brick wall that was in ruins all over the lawn and the street. A little while later Krisula said she did have a headache and was dizzy. The sheriff asked if she wanted to get checked out, and she agreed. It wasn't until we heard the sirens that we realized getting "checked out" meant two fire engines, an ambulence, and about eight paramedics with a stretcher crowding around Krisula, who was shaking her head and saying "I just have a headache!" Kurtis and Sarah and I couldn't help but laugh as we waved goodbye to her, strapped down and covered with a sheet on the stretcher, arms crossed and shaking her head at us as they took her to the ER. At that point there was the campus security car, two state patrols, a sheriff, two fire engines, and an ambulence, all with lights flashing. Kind of intimidating for poor Sarah.
Later on, Kurtis and I and a couple other people went to go wait at the ER with Krisula. They said that she did have a concussion, and gave her some instructions on what to do. I just ended up with a few bruises and a sore arm. So in the end we didn't make it to the Good Friday service, or dinner for that matter. We decided it was a good thing that the couch had been taken, because who knows how bad it could have been if there was a couch in the back of the truck. So, that was the excitement of my weekend. I won't hope for any more excitement in the near future, although it did make for a good story to tell people a few years from now.

Hope

Over the last three weeks, I have grieved for myself, for my brothers, and for my dad, but I have not grieved for my mother. For her I rejoice. It hurts me to think about the fact that my mom won't be there to help plan my wedding, she won't meet my husband, she won't know her grandkids. She won't see Jonny finish High School, and won't get to go back to her beloved Bolivia. I've lost my friend, mentor, role model, advice-giver and reassurer. But in the middle of loss and grief, I have reason to rejoice. And my reason to rejoice is infinitely greater than my reason to mourn. Because the hope of eternal life, together, in a perfect world, with Jesus, drowns out all fear and all temporary sorrow. If I did not have this hope, my life at the moment would be shattered. I would have no motivation to go on. But my mom's earthly death has projected God's astounding gift of resurrection all the more. She did not die, really. Her flawed earthly body died, but her soul was born, truly born. She got through the preparation for real life faster than most people do. I rejoice because she doesn't have to live in this messed up world any more. She doesn't have to go through the aches and pains of being old (she always said she didn't want to live to be ninety). She gets to be with her son Derek, she gets to see Jesus and understand what pure beauty really is. This is not some sort of wish that Christians have, it is real! The other day I read I Corinthians 15:54-56, "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Yes! Twice in the last week I was in a worship service where we sang such a beautiful and reassuring song: Still, my soul be still, and do not fear though winds of change may rage tomorrow. God is at your side, no longer dread the fires of unexpected sorrow. God, you are my God, and I will trust in you and not be shaken. Lord of peace renew a steadfast spirit within me to rest in you alone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXMiysZfNQ

An Outpouring of Grace

I'm sitting in our living room surrounded by beautiful bouquets of flowers. Next to me is a stack of cards about a foot tall and our freezer is full of food. We have been so so amazed at the incredible support of this community. I will never again complain about how sheltered and isolated Lynden is. I hope it never changes! I also am so thankful for the most wonderful extended family. They are all gone now but I couldn't ask for a better family at a time like this. Something that I'm learning right now is that the only things that really matter in life are the eternal ones. The treasures that will truly last. The picture I get in my head when I envision God right now is a father who knows that he has to put his kid through something painful (and it is!), but it is painful to him as well, so he holds us in his arms, desperately wanting to carry us through it. He will. I have felt his nearness in the most amazing ways over the past week and a half since my mom's death. I actually physically felt his hand on my head as I went to sleep the second night. He is so good, and I just thank him that his plan is so much better than my own.

Peace like a River

When peace like a river attendeth my way; When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say "It is well, it is well with my soul!" Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control: That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And has shed his own blood for my soul. My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought: My sin, not in part but the whole Was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord oh my soul! And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul!