Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend was both good and bad.  Since I am low on time, here is the weekend wrap-up bullet style:

- I got to go to my first Carolina Hurricanes game of the season.  One of my good friends was nice enough to invite me to her work thing at the game and our seats were awesome!  Before the game they had a tailgate with great food and beer/wine.  Ron the Ref and Stormy were there and Tuomo Ruutu (one of the players) gave a little talk and answered questions.  It was a great game and we won!!

I don't know why Stormy wanted to show off his bully button!

CAM!  My favorite!

- I watched Gone with the Wind for the first time this weekend.  It was not what I was expecting at all!  It was really depressing and traumatic   Not a sweet and happy love story, but still a good movie.  I kind of want to read the book now.

- I went downtown on Saturday night after the game and actually stayed out late and danced up a storm!  It was fun but my mind was kind of elsewhere...

- While we were out Saturday night I was with another girl from my bible study and we both got calls from our leader back to back which was a little unusual.  When we checked the message she left for us we were in shock!  One of the other girls in our group had her brother visiting this weekend and she was calling to tell us he passed away around 8:30 that night while he was with her.  It was so shocking because we had both just met her brother after the 4 pm service at church just a few hours earlier!

We had heard so much about her brother before meeting him and she was so proud and happy to be able to introduce us to him.  He was born with only half a heart but despite all odds had made it 24 years by God's grace.  They had  had a scare a few months ago, but when we met him he seemed to be doing well and talked about how much he had enjoyed the service.  It was just such a reminder about how fragile and fleeting life is.

Sunday our small group met and wrote letters of encouragement to our dear friend and took lunch to her and her family.  It was so bitter sweet.  Bitter because death always stings, but sweet because we could see God's hand in everything that happened the day before.

Also sweet because I think we all can see how much our group has grown  in our faith and with each other over the last year.  I have never had girls that I could depend on like these girls.  We are more than a bible study, more than friends, sometimes more than even family.

It's also sweet because we know he is with the Lord now and there is nothing sweeter than that.  I have experienced in my life the death of people who are strong in their faith and also people that you really just don't know where they stood with Jesus and it is so much different when you know exactly where they are going.  It is sad yes, but that sadness is countered by the joy you feel for them too.  The joy that you know you will get to experience when this life is over and we are finally HOME.

- If God keeps me here in this life a long time, I hope He gives me the opportunity to know a love like this.  Oh to be loved and even more- to love someone else like this!