The Lesson of Job

This past month has been filled with happiness and with sorrow, with the consistent theme of our baby girls being surrounded by a loving family and God. The girls took their first weekend trip to Gatlinburg, (a first of many they will soon find) where they finally met lots of extended family members on my dad's side. They had a ball and did so very well away from home! However, the weekend ended in saddness with the news of the unexpected and tragic death of my Uncle Larry, my mom's brother, up in Michigan. The girls proceeded to join us on their very first (and LONG) trip up to Berrien Springs MI for the funeral. This was of course the town that we lived in when I was pregnant, so they had definitely spent time their before, but it was a very dark and cozy time for them... :-)

Uncle Larry was such a great man who loved, I mean loved, to laugh. Every time I would speak with him on the phone, or get together face to face, he was always smiling and laughing or giggling at something! It was something I always remembered about my Uncle Larry from when I was a little girl, and was the first thing Chris noticed about him when they first met. He loved to laugh. He watched my belly grow with these two sweet angels, but never got to meet them face to face since we moved away right before their birth. It makes me sad that my girls will never get to meet him. However, the memory of him lives on through his wife (Aunt Tammy) and four children (my cousins Mindy, Missy, Larry Michael and Kenneth), and I see him in the laughter and smiles of my very own girls. I am comforted by the fact that through this blog and my Facebook, he was able to enjoy the girls through their pictures and videos...all the more motivation to keep posting. But for my Uncle Larry, this saddness just makes us all long for the coming of Jesus Christ even more when there will be no more death, no more sorrow, and no more tears. And the reunion that will take place up there in the clouds one day...wow...the reunion.

At the conclusion of our time in Michigan, we headed straight to Greeneville, Tennessee where the girls ended the week on a happy note with their baby dedication. They were once again surrounded by so many family members...they are so very blessed with such outpourings of love. We celebrated the gift God has given us through the double blessing of our twin baby girls. The contrast of the week made me appreciate even more the love of our God through the words of Job. "...the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21. No matter if it be sorrows or joys that we face, I want my girls to be raised knowing that no matter what, they too should say "Blessed be Your name oh God!" He never wills for these bad things to happen...it is the work of the fallen Satan doing this to God's people. And in a hard to understand way, it is God's love for us that allows sin to continue in this world - He is waiting for every last one of us to turn our hearts and lives over to Him before he puts a final end to all the sorrow! He doesn't want to come before every single one of His children have a chance to be saved forever in the clouds with Him who created us. When bad things happen, Chris always points out that "it wasn't in the Plan". These things are NOT the will of God. But the direct works of our Lord -things such as the amazing, beautiful, and perfect blessing of our two precious babies, Madeline and Savannah - these things, HIS works, are to be praised! And because of that, we will praise Him in the good and the bad, knowing that in the end, His good and perfect will for our lives and this world will prevail! Always remember that, Madeline and Savannah.

Uncle Ted Struntz dedicating Madeline and Savannah to God