Goodbyes

I am sitting here tonight with a sad heart. I know that I have a monster blog update to do, but I can't get the Teutsch family out of my mind. I think as a parent, it is your worst nightmare to have a child pass away before you. You hope to see them grow, marry, have children.....not lose them before.

Brother Scott has been my pastor for 11 years now. Through those years I have had the opportunity to watch Jessica grow up....listen to her sweet voice sing...have her teach my girls at VBS. She was a kind and sweet girl. I can't say that I knew her well, but when you have a church family, all the kids become your "kids" in a way. You are interested in their lives and how they are doing. You wish the best for them. You want to see them do well. That's a church family.

When things like this happen, the church family pulls together. Prays for strength, comfort.....

You want to do more, say the right things to the family, take the pain off of their shoulders. You can't really understand what they are feeling unless you have been there yourself. In the end, all you can do is be there and pray.

So, if you aren't already doing so, I'm asking you guys to pray for Brother Scott, Lisa, Luke, Hannah and the rest of their family.

Here is the link to Jessica's obituary: http://www.legacy.com/shreveporttimes/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=122938655

And here is another nice post about her: http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9062&Itemid=53

Happy New Year

I have decided that I will just do a long Fall /Winter 2008 recap in a few days. Maybe that will catch me up. Seems like once you reach a certain point, you are overwhelmed at how far behind you have become. Oh well...it will all come together.

For those that have asked, Stefan arrived safely in China (much to the relief of this nervous mother). He won't be coming back until January 5th. We wish he were here with us over the New Year, but this was an opportunity that he might not otherwise have received. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for the extremely generous gift to Stefan. Here are some of the pics that they have emailed me.

And yes, it is very cold there right now. I am a little jealous because Stefan is getting to spend so much time with my super cute nephews!

By the way, please pray that he has a safe journey home...he will have a four hour layover in Chicago and won't arrive until 10:25pm on Monday night. Then it is a 4 hour drive home and up in the morning to go to school. Unfortunately, he has finals next week and has to be there as much as possible.

Before I sign off.......I hope all of my family and friends are happy and healthy and enjoying the beginning of this new year. A special "love you" to my close ones.....you know who you are:)