The Last Couple of Weeks

The past few weeks have been very busy, and at the same time I feel like God is teaching me so many things.

My brother Matthew and his girlfriend Mercedes came out to visit for a week. Mercedes is from Mexico, and just recently moved to Calgary where my brother now lives. She is trying to get settled in while looking for a job, but they decided first to come visit for my grandma's wedding. James adored both of them, and it was so nice to have a few extra hands to entertain him during the week. He still asks for "Matt" and "Cedes".

My grandma got married last week Friday, at 74 years old. My cousin and I were her bridesmaids, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am so happy for her, as she has been single for 35 years. Her husband John is an absolute sweetheart - he writes her poems, sings to her, and has that charming eye-twinkle that is so endearing. (In the photo from left-right: my cousin Heidi, myself, my grandma, John, John's sons Reg and Randy).

Amidst all this good stuff, my very good friend's mother passed away from cancer. Her mom was also a very good friend of my mom, and I knew her as "auntie". She knew she has little time to live, and yet when my mom called to tell me that she had passed away during the night I was still shocked. I've been feeling really helpless in knowing how to love and support my friend. I'm terrible with words when it comes to death and sympathy - I just don't know what to say. However, the funeral was actually really inspiring to me. I came away with a new appreciation for God, and how I want to be more open in talking to people about Him.

God has been continuously giving me an image of a drop of water falling into a pool. So many times throughout our lives we question the "big picture", and why we have to experience certain things. God has told me that our actions can speak louder than words. We will never know, until it is revealed to us in Heaven, how our actions, words, and life affected those around us. It is like the drop of water falling into a pool. That drop of water is like our life (our actions, how we treat people, our words, etc). The ripples that the drop of water makes are like the people that we touch and plant seeds in. We can never see where that ripple ends... just like we may never see how things we've done have impacted others. But somewhere along the line, something we've done will affect someone - and so it makes me SO much more aware of things I say, and do. Just because my life may not directly impact someone to make a decision for Christ, my life might affect someone else, who then affects someone else... until finally it affects a person I don't know to decide to follow Christ. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I spent this past weekend in Grand Forks with my mom, two of my aunts, two cousins, and a family friend. We literally shopped until we dropped, and had a great time. It was my first weekend away from James, while he stayed with daddy. I really enjoyed it, even though I missed him like crazy. When I got home, it felt like I had missed a month of his life - he seemed so grown up! He is madly teething right now, getting his eye teeth. He also seems to be on an eating strike, so I am making my goal this week to be getting him off pureed foods, and onto table food.