"Hope" in many forms....

Today was quite a day. Today we had the utter joy of watching one of Payton's best buddies, Brooke, get baptized. Brooke's brother and sister, Jordan and Ashlee, were also baptized this morning. This was a day I will never forget. I was so excited. It felt like they were my kids! God put this wonderful family in our lives about 4 years ago. Payton was in 2nd grade with Brooke. I came to know Brooke's mom through the girls' friendship. Early on in Payton and Brooke's friendship, Brooke's family was going through some very difficult times. So, our family started to pray for theirs, daily. We prayed for each of them individually. And, one Sunday we ran into them at our church! Without going into too much detail...over the next few years, we were blessed to witness the amazing work God did in each of them. And, today, we watched as each of the children professed their love and faith in Jesus.

After attending Desert View, we headed back to our church, The Crossroads. Our Pastor, Steve Wyatt, was back to preach today for the first time since his wife, Cindy, passed away. So, after experiencing utter joy, as I previously mentioned, my emotions took a drastic turn! The joy was replaced with deep sadness, loss and a broken heart. I know those emotions are normal after such a tragic event as losing a loved one. I just wanted to hug that man and never let him go. I wish I could do something to make it easier, less painful for him. But, he made it clear that his trust, his hope is in Jesus. And, there it will remain. And, that is better than anything any human could provide.

As I sit and think about dealing with loss as great as this it makes me even more aware of the people who don't know Jesus. What about the people who endure the death of a loved one and don't have Jesus in their lives? How do they get through something like this? Don't they know that they could have total assurance of everlasting life? Total assurance that this world (which is filled with way too much illness and sorrow) is not the end? Steve will see Cindy again because of their faith in Jesus. There is no hope greater than that.