Family times with Jonathan and Jenny...

What an amazing time we had with Jonathan & Jenny and their lovely kids. It was so good to see them again-- to play with the kids and hear their stories, to connect over coffee, to share meals, to walk together and simply BE together. A gift. A blessing!

And still, the time was too short, the days too few. As we were hugging the children goodbye and later Jonathan and Jenny I was nearly overcome from both the happy and the sad angles. So incredibly thankful that we were able to spend this time with them. So sad to realize how few our times are, sad to realize how few our opportunities are to be and grow together.

I wondered how God sees the blood lines, family lines. I wonder if in heaven we'll get a special opportunity to reconnect after spending so much of our lives apart. I wonder what it would be like to be neighbors. I wonder what kind of friends we would be if we'd lived close by all our lives.

In the end, there are no answers, at least not any that I've found. I must put my questions and sadness in the hands of a Father who is always good, always loving, always here. I must let go of what-ifs and wonderings and move on with the memories tucked securely in my heart and an eternal hope firmly planted, a faith that is often against my feelings.