and yet ...

We are losing our lovely Aunt Ruth to Pancreatic Cancer. Jason's Aunt Ruth, but it's torn me up something terrible. She will be graduating to heaven very soon. This is a time when your theology really forces it's way into your reality. We KNOW that she will be with Christ. We KNOW that we will all follow. We KNOW that God is sovereign. And yet our hearts cry out that this is WRONG ... it aches to see her body lose strength even when her eyes are still bright. It screams out against a 29-year marriage being ended with such force. It cries out against this world losing someone of such grace and beauty. It mourns because simple things like Christmases just won't be the same.

The heart cries out that it is wrong because it IS wrong. Our bodies are not made for decay and brokenness brought on by this fallen world, AND YET we know that God is sovereign over it all. It's just that His power over death will not be seen by our eyes just yet. It will be the faith He asks from us that will carry us through ... assurance of that which we do not see, that which we hope for.

Here is a picture of her with the Miller Family from a few weeks ago - Ruth is the beauty in the middle. And if you are a glutton for humility, check out her blog - http://ruth.apsley.org/. She's been maintaining it faithfully since even before her diagnosis. In it you'll see the beauty of a woman who is prepared to meet her Maker.

Now, in other news ... because life keeps being life ... Jason has been given an interim opportunity at our home church - Northpoint, Corona - as the Ministry Director for Community & Outreach. We have been praying and searching for so long now that this came as a refreshing surprise to have the Leadership Team seek him out! The pastor in this position will be leaving this month to take a Senior Pastor position up North, and Jason is stepping in to maintain and continue building the ministry foundation he established in our Community. Already he has been excited to engage with the various non-profits that are hard at work in Corona, as our Church seeks ways to be engaged and in service alongside them. This is a big change for us and has included another new place to live as well ... more friends from Church invited us into their home for this interim time. Yes, we are blessed moochers and we know it.

Just the week before the job started, we had the chance to get a few days together in Yosemite and Mammoth ... tip, don't go to Yosemite in August - it's so dry! ... but it was still beautiful and we were so refreshed. With battered hearts from this summer's news, we really felt God come to us in His gentle way ... you know those moments when you feel like you need to work really hard to get yourself back before Him? And then He comes to you and the next thing you know His arms are around you and all that's left for you to do is sigh and relax. He's in control after all.