Tragedy and New Family

As most of you know, Justin's family learned early last week that his cousin Jessica had been brutally murdered.  It was a week of emotional turmoil and clinging to God in our great time of need.  After making some necessary phone calls and emails, I sat down to read the Psalm of the day and the verses within it were exactly what my soul needed.  Psalm 9:7-10 says: ⁷ "The LORD reigns forever;  he has established his throne for judgment. ⁸ He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. ⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. ¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."  I love when God's Word comes alive in a special way, like it was customized for you in that very moment.  Justin also mentioned that the entire day Phillipians 4:13 just kept playing over in his head and it was as if the Lord purposely caused it to temporarily dwell there so he could think on things above instead of earthly things.  We have literally felt the prayers of everyone who has sought the Lord on our behalf and that gave us peace in a time where it would have made more sense to be restless, downtrodden and anxious.
On Friday the 12th, we drove to Michigan to be with family.  On the front end, we had no idea that we would come away from our stay there, having met family that was not even blood relation.  Justin has been close to his cousin Frankie, (a brother to Jessica) since childhood.  Frankie's mother-in-law, Doris, opened up her home to many people over the course of the weekend.  Her gracious spirit was contagious - the kind of person that inspires you to give more, love more and be more like Christ.  Doris had been through a terrible tornado last year and though her house did not survive, she did.  She said on more than one occasion, "God gave me this new house and the least I can do is open it up and welcome others into it for His glory."  She made us feel right at home and we already miss her!

Doris and Lily

Though there were a lot of tears shed, we were told several times how much of a blessing it was that we came and brought Lily with us.  Everyone had a great time watching Lily run around with her cousin, Adam, and Adam's cousin, Maddie.

 Lily and Maddie

On Saturday night after some of the other family had departed to come back to Iowa, we decided to make the short, 30 minute trip to Notre Dame.  It was rainy and dreary weather but it was fun anyway to see the stadium and parts of the campus.  Lily stayed behind with some of the lovely women and the other kids.  After all of the day's events, she must have been exhausted because they texted a picture of her zonked out on "Grandma" Sherry's lap!  She NEVER does that - if I hadn't seen the photo, I wouldn't have believed it!  I think it must be a Grandma thing. :)

"Great Grandma" Sherry and Lily

After meeting her, we found out that she knows several people from our hometown and used to live close to there.  Pretty neat!

 At Notre Dame

 Justin doing the Heisman pose in front of the stadium

 The gold dome.  Not sure if it has an official name or not!

On Sunday before we headed back home, we had some very long and drawn-out goodbyes.  We feel like we've gained new family members!  While we would have never wished to meet them under these terms, we are grateful for the time we spent with all of them.  God's ways are higher than ours.  And we trust Him for all things.

Us with Frankie, Barbie and Adam

We are thinking of our family in Michigan daily and they've expressed that since everyone has left, it has been even more difficult with the quietness and so much time to reflect on what happened.  We won't begin to pretend that we can understand what they are going through.  But I do believe that in hard circumstances, God gives a special kind of grace to those who need it that outsiders can't comprehend.  One of the women said it perfectly while we were visting - "If even one person comes to know Christ because of all of this, it is worth it."  So true, Cassie.  Our prayer is that those who don't know Jesus would seek His face because of this tragedy and that those who already do would come to know Him better.  Thank you again to our brothers and sisters in Christ who have lifted us up!  We love you all deeply!