A Hard Day!

Over the years I have kept a prayer journal.  

I decided to share and expand what I wrote yesterday in my prayer journal.

LORD, yesterday was a had day - 13 year anniversary of my dad's death.  As I shared on Facebook, I remember this day like it just happened.  I am so thankful, in your providence, I was able to be there that night with my family in New Brighton.

I miss him sooo much.
Josiah and Jadyn never met him.
Joel only know him through stories and pictures.

As I think back not only on that day but also the weeks, months and years leading up to dad's death, there are so many things to thank God for.

• my friends, who became like family, in the Dominican Republic.  There are so many I could list so I will not even try to list them all.  But I want to especially thank two people David and Michelle Stanley.  They were so helpful when I received that first phone call in the Dominican Republic that I needed to get home.  Thye helped with the ticket, with transportation to the airport, with helping Krista while I was gone, with being the friends and help we needed at just the right time.
• ECS staff and Bob Flamm for their flexibility with several opened trips from Toledo to Pittsburgh.
• Friends and family at Rochester Free Methodist Church, especially for Pastor Bob, who was with our family that night and many other times at the hospital and for Aunt Mar who has been such a help and encouragement.
• Krista has been awesome.  There are so many things I can share about how she has been an encouragement but one directly related to my dad and his health is my first night in the hospital as a married man.  For those that don't know, nine days after we were married I was in the hospital for a deflated lung.  There are a lot of crazy details about my deflated lung and my dad's history of lung problems.  But at the hospital that night Krista asked me if there was anything I needed and my first, quick response was "I want my mom."  I know that didn't instill in her a lot of confidence.  I am so thankful for how God grow in me and my dad a love for Krista.
• Most importantly, I am thankful that God saved my dad by grace through Jesus Christ.  I remember over and over again people telling me how helpful he was to them and I remember thinking and saying I know he was all those things and I am so thankful that he trusted in Jesus Christ to be his Savior.  

God and His providence also provided an infographic and an inexpensive book to remind me of His goodness.  

Comfort the Greiving: Ministering God's Grace in Times of Loss, which is $1.99 on Kindle as of 10/28/17.

 "Although death is a result of the curse of sin (Genesis 2, 3) and is our final enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), God does not ultimately view the death of a believer as a bad thing (Ps. 116:15)."