April 1

Today we attended the memorial service for Adam's Uncle Lane, who passed away a few weeks ago. Lane was the husband of my Mother-in-Law's sister Susan, and though Adam and I have been a thing for nearly two decades, we'd only seen him a handful of times over the years.

So I knew a few things about him, but I learned a lot more. I learned that he had something of a tough start in this life and that his tough start compelled him to devote the rest of his days to seeing to the needs of his family. (Which he did quite well.) I also learned that he was a man of great faith. As I silently remembered laying Logan's spent little body to rest five years ago, all I could think was "thank God that this life --this battered, broken, imperfect, oft-painful life-- is not the end-all, be-all of our existence."

Afterward, we headed to Susan's home for a get-together (and that's where we snapped this pic). Food, family, and fun for the kids, who got to see their second cousins for the first time in quite a long while. (Honestly, it may well have been the first time Isaac and Brady had ever seen the two boys. Not so for Abby, because there's a sweet photo of her and Andrew --who is 13-- sitting in a chair together from Thanksgiving 2005. It's one of those things us moms like to bring up to tease the younguns a bit.)

Anyway, just some rambling thoughts for today. If I can offer up a bit of wisdom, it's this: don't let challenging or painful circumstances deceive you into doubting God. Uncle Lane had every right to do just that, but he didn't, and now, he's no doubt enjoying his reward.