Last Thursday night Hubby got a call that a Game Warden Pilot and friend hadn't been heard from for a few hours but that they weren't too worried, it could be a simple explanation. The reason Hubby was called was that it was happening in his Troop. Everything changed when we woke up. The pilot still had not been located and they were bring in the troops. I got word a few hours later that he had been found inside his crashed plane and that he was dead. This wasn't just any pilot to us, he was our friend, our neighbor for a few years back down south, he and his family attended our church there for years and Hubby had coached both his sons in high school basketball. Hubby did a great job keeping it together and he was asked on Saturday to do the eulogy for the funeral. Fast forward to Wednesday. The funeral was attended by over 1500 uniformed officers. Every Game Warden was there along with a large contingency of Troopers and other Maine LEO's. Fish and Wildlife Officers from all over New England as well as other states were there too. It was amazing to see them all together, all moving in unison, it made me fall in love with my law enforcement family all over again. He was given a grand send off, but more importantly, he loved God very much and I know exactly where he is and I look forward to seeing him again.
Before the funeral began, my sister in law told me that she had just gotten a call from the hospital that Hubby's grandfather was not doing well at all. She was headed to the hospital with my mother in law to say goodbye. After the funeral we found out that he had a heart attack but was improving. After Hubby had completed all his obligations for the funeral and burial, we headed to the hospital. We found out that he had stabilized and was doing remarkably better.
After a pretty good night sleep, one of the first in a week, Hubby headed to a meeting in the southern part of the state, I dropped the girls off at school and headed to visit a friend who is suffering from a brain tumor that is inoperable. When I got there she told me that she was glad that she was doing worse because she is so ready to see Jesus and get to Heaven. Her kids are a bit younger than I am her husband passed away unexpectedly 2 years ago. She has fought cancer as long as I have known her, I've been around almost 15 years. It was so much more emotional than I could have ever anticipated. How often do you get to say goodbye to some one? I have never had that opportunity. To say goodbye to someone who has had a profound impact on your life as a Christian, as a wife and as a mom is so hard. She must have apologized for the way that she looked 3 times before she said, "See, Sarah, God is still working on me and my pride!" Her tumor has given her some paralysis on the right side of her face and she is quite swollen from the prednisone that she had been on. It was so nice to be able to pray with her and feel her peace, the peace that only God can give.
After I got a grip and left the house, I called my SIL to see if she needed anything, she was still at the hospital with Gramp and I ended up running food over to the wife of the pilot for her. When I got to the house, which I figured would be still packed with people, I found only her, her son and her son's girlfriend. It was so nice to be able to sit down with her. I told her how well she had done the day before at the funeral and she attested to the peace of God that passes all understanding, she put the emphasis on the "all". We talked about how people without a faith in God get through all the hard things that life throws at us, neither of us had an answer.
On our way to head back up north, we stopped to see Gramp again. He was sitting up in bed and eating everything on his plate. I'm so thankful for God's mercy on his life. We got a big snow storm up here, 12-14" on April Fool's day for us. Our regular plow man didn't plow us out, it was his brother. I went to check Facebook because our plow man's daughter had twin babies at about 24 weeks gestation and one of the babies had not been doing well. I found out that the baby had died last night. I cannot imagine loosing a child. The aunt of the baby had posted a message stating "Ella entered the presence of the Lord at 7:40pm and was completely healed at that moment". Again, the peace that only God can give is radiating from this family feeling this heavy loss.
Why God does what He does, I will never understand when so much heartache accompanies it. I do trust Him though. I know that He is working out His perfect plan and I'm thankful to be a part of it. But what I know is that He give us His peace, His peace that passes all understanding, a peace that you have no comprehension of until the very moment that you need it and He alone gives it. I am
so thankful for this peace, how does one get along in life with out it?
He heals the broken hearted
And binds up their wounds.
He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
His understanding is infinite.
Psalm 147:3-5
