This weekend, my mom (shown on the left) lost one of her dearest friends, Mary, to breast cancer. Mary was an amazing woman, a living testimony to God’s goodness and faithfulness even when in terrible pain and facing death. In fact, she was quite joyful about facing death, knowing that she was going to be with her Creator for eternity. She really was amazing. Mark and I were greatly moved by her faith and boldness in sharing Christ with many people as well as her husband Joe’s incredible love and devotion to her as he cared for her until the end. They had a website where they would publish updates about Mary’s condition and how things were going. On the day she died, Joe wrote this:

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2008 10:52 AM, EDT
In His great mercy the Lord called Mary home a little before 2:00 this morning. Sometime after 1:00AM I had finished reading aloud at her bedside and apparently dozed off. I awoke when the nurse entered the room less than an hour later and Mary had peacefully departed. We rejoice in the assurance that she is not only at rest, but joy-filled in His presence! Mary can truly declare, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day – and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ (2 Timothy 4:7,8) Our family is comforted by the promises of God and the support of friends and family. All truly is ‘well with our souls.’ We want to express our gratitude for your prayers and kind words throughout this journey.We are planning a memorial service in honor of Mary, which, in her own words, ‘should be a celebration of life!’ Thanks be to God. Joe, Andrew & Joseph

Wow.

I love the song by Nicole Nordeman called “I AM.” The final verse reads:

“When life had begun, I was woven and spun. You let the angels dance around the throne. Who can say when, but they’ll dance again, when I am free and finally headed home.”

Mary was faithful to the end. What a joy to witness that. I know those angels are dancing and Mary’s right along with them, free and finally home.

We officially welcomed cousin #6 into our family today. Bohdan has been Erin (my sister) and Brian’s foster child for about 18-19 months, I believe. During that time, they lovingly have cared for him as if he was their own, fully planning from the start to make that happen. But, he wasn’t quite their own officially until today. Today, we attended a court hearing to make him legally their son. It was beautiful weather today, warm and sunny, a great day to celebrate God’s provision of a child for Erin and Brian and His provision of a family who loves the Lord and loves him for Boh. (and, yes, Erin has 7 weeks to go before baby #2 joins them!)