A Birth, A Wedding, A Funeral: God's Grace

If there was ever a time when God’s grace was unmistakably evident, it was this weekend.  Three days of a heart-wrenching whirlwind.  A weekend where my heart didn’t quite know how to feel.

Friday dawned with the birth of my beautiful niece – the first grandchild on the Boboth side.  Silly as it sounds, I love that baby so much already; though I have yet to meet her. The joy, pride and love that I felt surprised me, and now it KILLS me not to be there with her… or her parents.  Sure miss that family!

Friday night was the wedding of one of our cousins on the Boboth side. How sweet it was to see family that had come significant distances to be there! After the wedding, we drove up to Yakima where the whole Schlect family was gathering for a funeral the following morning.

The weather was perfect on Saturday as we made our way to the cemetery.  The ceremony went as well as could be and was followed by a reception spent reminiscing about my great grandmother.

My siblings and me with our late Great Grandma

Such an interesting sequence of events: a birth, a wedding, and a funeral. Life's cycle, I suppose.

In it all, however, God’s grace was so very evident.  In the healthy cry of a newborn baby, in a new bride’s glow, in the delicate balance between gravity and levity, in the laughter among the cousins despite the gravity of the weekend, in the sweet conversations remembering Grandma as we lounged around the pool, in a competitive card game, in a 22-person-long table at Red Robin, in the midst of family whiffle ball games, in the middle of a Miner’s burger… God has been so very gracious.

Driving away from this weekend, my heart is full.  What a blessing to be a part of a family where all 22 members not only love each other, but they genuinely enjoy each other’s presence! What a legacy my grandparents have established. I spent much of this weekend utterly in awe of God’s goodness to us to allow this beautiful family harmony.  Driving away, my “family gas tank” has been replenished – I think I can keep homesickness at bay just a little longer. Driving away, I can’t help but praise the God that created this blessed institution of family.

I am blessed, I am humbled, I am sunburned.

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