End-of-Weekend Thoughts.

Friday evening:
Mr. M. and I had an early dinner with some friends who had come down from the high desert. After the meal, they went to a graduation, and Mr. M. and I went to a college Bible study at one of California's most well-known universities.

Saturday (ridiculously early) morning:
My friend from the desert came to my house at 4:45 to pick me up so that we could go to someone else's house. When we got to the someone else's house, we had coffee and pastries, and I found out just how annoyingly (to me, hilariously) upbeat and outgoing I am at that hour. We gathered our group of 6 and drove downtown to participate in a 5k to help raise funds for breast cancer research. Our 5k turned into a 10 or 11k, since our group couldn't manage to ever be at the same place at the same time, but we did finally gather ourselves up and went to lunch.

Sunday morning:
Church. As we sang about the amazing truth of the Gospel, and the power of Jesus' death and resurrection, I couldn't help but think, "Is this real? Could this be true? Did God really kill His son so I could live? Yes, I believe with my whole heart that that is true. I will not for a second pretend that I have all the answers to questions of God and His dealings with man, but I can tell you that I believe that God created the world and all that is in it. Created man then sinned, and that sin changed the course of history, and the course of my life (and yours.) I believe God had mercy on His sinful creation, and He put His own son on the cross so that His redeemed people would love Him and live with Him forever."

Every Day:
I mourn the loss of affectionate arms that once greeted me in sweet embrace. I am thankful for the family and friends she left behind to mourn together and comfort each other. I look forward to the Heavenly reunion when we will all be gathered in a huge embrace under the protective, loving, and mighty arms of our Father.