We have hope

As the one year anniversary of Karin's passing is quickly approaching, I have been thinking a lot about the past year. A year ago, I never thought we would make it this far. There have been days when the valley of grief is so deep that you can not see the Light. Now, a year later I can see a small shard of light in the valley. There will forever be hard days. And, the devil would have us believe that God is no where to be found and that we are in this all alone. But God says, "He will never leave us or forsake us." He has not forsaken us now, and He never will.

I was at the mall today with the boys in the little play area. A lady that looked like Karin sat down next to me and was watching her kids play as well. At first, I was not really focusing on her when I was talking to her so I did not notice her resemblance to Karin. She asked me if I just had boys and I told her I had a daughter as well. She said, "I think I want a daughter because I think of how close my mom and I are and we talk every day . . . " I zoned out because I started thinking about Salina and how when she is pregnant she will not have her mother to call and say, "I throwing up, what do I eat?" Then we started talking about preschools and as she was talking I realized she was a short haired version of Karin. She had dimples and everything. I gave the boys the 2 minute warning because I knew if I stayed there long I would start crying.

We have almost made it through what may be the hardest year of your life (depending on who you are in all this). Next year will be a little better. Yes, there will still be hard days. There will always be hard days, but God is ALL good, ALL the time and even though life is not all good, we will press on! Thank God we have hope.

Just in case you are wondering . . . On the 19th, Jeff & the kids will be on the houseboat with Karin's family. I think that is a great diversion to keep their minds off the day. I'll make sure Jeff takes some pictures.