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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Families are foever




The past couple of weeks have really given me a greater perspective of life and truly how fragile it is. 2 of my friends' brothers have passed away, one while serving in the Army in Afghanistan and the other, a father of a cute little girl with one on the way passed away in his sleep.
I didn't really know either of these two great men, but I do know their families, which are great families. I know Mark looked up to one of them as a great example of a big brother.

It's so hard to wrap your head around when someone passes away unexpectantly. Mark and I had a good talk last night, after I cried for a while {which made me feel confused because I didn't know Jared well, like I said, but I can't imagine what it's like to loose a son, brother, husband, father. I just kept thinking about how devastating it must be for his parents, brothers, wife and daughters. My heart breaks for them.} But Mark made a good point, on very few occasions do you hear Mark be serious or share his deep thoughts. He said the Lord must really have something important, almost an emergency, for Jared to do, why else would he take a young father/husband/son so quickly and with out any sign, no sickness or anything. I think that is so true. Most often death is expected, for example usually a grandparent is old or there has been sickness, you can prepare for it and say your goodbyes. I really think that says something amazing about Jared, that he was so important and crucial for something in heaven that we can't understand that God would take him from the earth. 

Sometimes we get so caught up in life with materialistic things, clothes, our appearance, technology. But these tragedies have really opened my eyes and helped me see the most important things in life, family and the people who mean so much to us, they are irreplaceable. How often do we treat our own family members with less than respect. I can't imagine the heartache of losing someone in my family. It's made me think about how much they each mean to me and I need to always remember to treat them like that. I also thought a lot about my relationship with Mark. It made me realize that things can happen so quickly that I don't want to fight or get caught up in the little things. I want to live life to the fullest every day. I want to strive to have a perfect love for Mark everyday. I want to have no regrets. Obviously every day isn't perfect and I won't be perfect at this but I want to try. I don't want to dwell on things that happened years ago. I want to look forward and love openly, not be afraid to be hurt. You only have one chance at this life, and too often it ends all too quickly.

My heart goes out to these two wonderful families. I am so grateful for my testimony and understanding of a life after this and eternal families. I'm grateful that I know I will see and be with my family forever. God doesn't create families just to take them from us, families are eternal. I want my family; my parents, sisters, grandparents, in laws, and Mark to know how much I love them and how grateful I am for them. I am the person I am today because of their example and love.

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