A Friend's Birthday Party

We went to Elias' birthday party today. His mom is a good friend of mine (and Peter too). He was turning one. It was really fun to watch Luke run around and play with all the other kids. He had a ball, chasing the ball. And there was a little puppy in the yard behind which would come up to the fence wagging his tail wildly and then run away when Luke got close. Luke thought it was hilarious. He said "sunny!" which is how he says "funny." I think it's so cute when he says that, I guess just because he's being more abstract than simply pointing out and naming an object. Another funny thing he says: every time I say something about "Uncle Peter," Luke says "Janet." I guess we know who HE thinks is worth mentioning.

When we stopped on our way home and I went to get Luke out of the car, he had a little rubber snake on his chest, which freaked me out, because I didn't know he had one! When I first saw it I thought immediately it was a toy, but then I thought, "where did he get a toy snake?!?! Is it real!?!?!? OHhhh, it came out of his goody bag from the party.

Also, today Luke figured out how to put all the pieces into one of those wooden puzzles with the animal cutouts all by himself. Then he wanted to try another one when we were picking one out for Elias and he did that one all by himself too. He wanted to carry it around all day, but kept dropping the pieces out and getting upset. He was later able to put all the pieces in the correct place in the shape sorter at another friend's house and kept emptying it out and putting them back in again and again. It was almost like something "clicked" in his brain today, which was fun to see.

In reference to "It"

In reference to "it," which I posted the other day -- I am not pregnant! It's not nearly that serious! It'something really little that I'm excited about because it was gone and now it's back. Seriously, would I give you a baby if that was it and you guessed it right? No! (I said I'd give one to whoever guessed it right.) Another hint, I'm cheap, so if I'm giving one away, it can't be something expensive. So, guess again.

Luke at P&J's wedding

"It"

It's back! I'm so excited! If you can guess what I'm talking about, I'll give you one (except Greg -- I already told him.)

Tough week, but the Lord is good.

Last week was kind of a tough week. We got back from my grandfather's funeral in South Carolina to find out that the baby of Greg's good friend had died from SIDS. It was very sad for us -- Benson was born Feb. 13, just 5 days before Ben was actually due. The parents, Eddie and Sarah were so amazing in their response. At the funeral, they both spoke, which in itself was amazing. But, even more than that, Sarah talked about how God had given her a peace that she wasn't missing out on anything in Benson's life, but that God had given him exactly the number of days he was supposed to have. Eddie talked about how he would give up anything to have his son back, highlighting God's amazing love for us, to CHOOSE to give up his son, for US! When I went to greet Sarah after the service, I could not help but cry, and it was like she was comforting me, telling me how we needed to get together and they had been thinking about us. I pray that the Lord would continue to uphold them, and use us to do that if he should see fit.

The contrast between Benson's and Kuka's funerals was interesting as well. Both were the funerals of believers and believers' families, so the Lord was honored throughout, but the mood was so different. Kuka's funeral was bittersweet, sadness in missing him, but joy that he went home to be with Jesus and lived such a long and full life -- he was going to be 90 this December! Benson's funeral had a certain sweetness, but sorrow was also evident throughout -- an appropriate response, of course. The sweetness was in knowing God's love and comfort, and the sorrow . . . well, that's obvious.

Kuka's Funeral

Kuka's funeral was really wonderful. He really wanted God to be honored rather than himself, and that was truly what happened. They even succeeded in focusing my attention on the Lord and what he's done for me and my family, which is pretty amazing, because I have a pretty hard heart. Uncle Dave read a eulogy about Kuka, which was basically the main events of his life, and Aunt Ruth read a letter from Kuka's sister, Betty Van Wechel, who could be there, but said that she knew Kuka must have faults, she just didn't know what any of them were. It really came out that he was a man who desired to please God more than anything else in his life.

It was also a very formal service. The church Kuka went to and loved, where they also loved him, is a small PCA church that uses an organ, piano, and hymns. It was different than what we're used to at this point, but the Lord was definitely lifted up. At one point I thought it would have been nice if they had asked Peter to sing, but then I realized that the type of music they would be doing would not be the type that he would normally sing and may not suit his voice all that well.

One of Tot's granddaughters really loved Kuka and she had a hard time with losing him. She may not have gotten to see him after his stroke either, which probably made it harder for her in certain ways as she didn't see him suffering as much as others of us that had seen him since the stroke. Another thing I appreciated was that Joel Belz and his wife came down from Asheville. The reactions of all of these people to his death was very heartfelt and special to me -- made me feel like he was loved and will be remembered.

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
Okay, so I know I am going to be a terrible blogger and forget to post anything for long periods of time, BUT I want one! Everybody else has one! I want a place to put my thoughts, feelings, and family events and milestones too. So, I will try. I'm not telling anyone else about it yet, however!

On a sadder note, my grandfather died yesterday morning. We are sad not to have him around anymore, but so happy for his "promotion." He gets to be with Jesus, my mom, Nyanya, and Tot, plus countless other friends from around the world. We'll be going to South Carolina this weekend for the funeral events.