Frid-ache...

Forgive me for veering away from Friday Funnies today, but my heart is very heavy this week.

We just got a prayer request from our church, asking us to pray for a mother whose 22/23-year-old daughter just passed away yesterday. I don't know the specifics of the situation, but I did know this girl. She was married only two years ago this December. I wonder if her 23-year-old husband knew "until death do we part" would come so soon?

That came after a request from a dear friend asking us to pray for her family who'd just suffered the loss of her oldest sister -- only in her late 50s. Their father just suffered a stroke as well.

That came after hearing about a mother of six boys -- ages 7 to 14 -- in our cyber school, who died of a heart attack after suffering an asthma attack.

That came after praying for another dear friend whose aunt was found brutally murdered in her car.

Wow.

All in the same two-week period.

My head is spinning and my heart is reeling.

And while I didn't know all of these people, somehow I still feel the sadness of their deaths. Somehow their deaths bring our own mortality to the front of our minds.

And the brevity of life.

But God is sovereign.

He uses these moments...to remind me to tell my loved ones how much He and I love them...all the time.

* * *

Please keep these families in your prayers. Their aches won't diminish for a long time.