The sudden - unexpected changes . . .

Tomorrow morning I have to tell Beatriz, one of my students, that she will be going home for her grandpa's funeral. 

And I'm sitting here trying to think how I'm supposed to word it. To break it to her gently as we always say. 

And there just is no right way, no easy way. For sure no gentle way. 

And I'm also trying to think how to rearrange the week. To make sure she won't have to miss out on any of the fun stuff we had planned for this week. It's the last week before vacation. We had an ice cream party planned to celebrate reaching our goal of 300 flash cards. We have the spelling bee on Friday, that Beatriz had a very good chance of winning. 

And we want to go to the funeral, but there's the other kids to think about, there's visitors to pick up from the airport, there's appointments with the immigration office to get some very much-needed residency cards. Lots of interrupted plans. 

And it made me remember our interrupted plans for a family Christmas 6 years ago. Instead of having a cozy family get-together in our living room, we were standing under a tent in a freezing cold cemetery, burying our dad & husband. 

The truth is there is never a good time for death. That's probably why God decided not to let us plan it. It would never suit us! 

I remember what someone told me and my sister when they were passing through the receiving line at the viewing, "As you get older this just keeps happening more and more, this is just the start." 

Oh, wow! Just what we needed to hear! 

But it is rather true. Death is inevitable. There is no avoiding that sudden jarring thud you feel when you hear the news. Even if you didn't know the person. And in a way, I'm glad. I don't want to get to the place where I can hear the news that someone died and feel no sadness and no sympathy for the family. Because it also brings along with it the reminder that this is not our home. We belong in a body that can praise Jesus eternally. 

But until then we deal with these sudden, unexpected changes that remind us to live every minute as if it were our last. 

"If the last thing you did, was the last thing you do,

If the last word you said, was the last breath you drew,

Would you be ok, with the way they remember you,

If the last thing you did, was the last thing you do?" 

                      -High Valley, If The Last Thing You Did

Pray for Beatriz and her family this week. Especially pray that her father would not turn to drinking again. 

Until next time, 

Mel