Dolan Dog Days

This past weekend was great. My cousin Kelly was married to Ben in a beautiful service…pictures to come later.

Sunday we went to church, as we usually do. After church we were going to Adam's parents for his birthday lunch…all was good. Then, close to the end of the service Michelle's phone rang. It was pretty strange for the particular caller to be calling, so she stepped out to return the phone call. Before she had finished sitting down she was whispering to me, "Pam Swecker just coded in church…" What? She did what? What happened? The remainder of the service became a blur, as I partially tried to focus on the amazing song going on, but mostly tried to comprehend what was going on.

Before we left church we learned that our dear friend (who I met in the rescue squad) had passed away while she was at church. Evidentially it was even their children's church Sunday. The night before Pam and her family celebrated their daughter's 7^th birthday. She has another boy who is only a few years older.

My heart aches even now as I think of the devastation this family is going through. It was sudden. It was far from expected. From what I understand there were no warnings at all.

As I tucked my babies into bed I tried to savor every nanosecond of it. I know when she tucked her kids in bed Saturday night she had no clue it would be her last time to do so.

Life is fleeting.

A moment.

A vapor.

How many times do I go through the motions, forget to love and appreciate the ones I love? I hate to think it…but any day could be the last, or the last of someone I love. We can't live a life of regret for moments we might not have savored. We can't live a life of regret for things we didn't do. But we can live life now. We can go pray over our kids as they sleep. We can hug and kiss them a few more times every day. We can linger a little longer as we hug and kiss our husband. We can stop for a minute and send an email to a friend, reminding them how much they mean to us.

We also can't live life in fear. This, at times, can be hard. With a firefighter husband I know there are real dangers to his job. I have to take every thought captive that would lead me to think about what could happen. I can't fear something happening to him or to my kids. And as hard as it is to sometimes put this into action, it must be done. God has not given us a spirit of fear. We have been given HIS Spirit.

So as I reflect on the loss of a friend, taken too soon it would seem, I pray for her family. I pray for her husband. I pray for her little boy. I pray for her little girl. My eyes swell with tears as I think of these two, so close to their momma, now going without her. But the Lord will be their strength. He will carry them through.

If you've made it to the end of this post, please say a prayer for my friends. They need them now more than ever.

Thanks.