A Heavy Heart....

I got the news yesterday. He is losing his 4 1/2 year battle with cancer and the doctors have only given him until the end of the week. Maria has been my friend since high school and I can't imagine what she is going through as she watches her husband of not even a decade slip away. We are only 33...this isn't how it is supposed to be. Nobody should be a widow at 33. This week as we are planning our summer vacation, I can't help but think this is what she should be doing...not planning her husband's funeral. My heart is absolutely breaking for her...and for their little girl. Two weeks ago Kaitlyn turned 5 and now she has to say good-bye to her daddy. What makes it even harder is knowing this family's story. In 2007, Maria gave birth to their beautiful baby girl. Memorial Day of that same year, Maria lost her brother in a motorcycle accident. Four months later, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. I can't help but ask the Lord, isn't it enough? Haven't they been through enough? Why are you taking him? He is a good man. He is a good husband. He is a good father. Why Mike? Why Maria? Why this family? And Lord, what do I say? How do I be a good friend? I have no idea what she is going through.

All I can do is pray for her and her family. I am asking for you to do the same. Please pray for Maria and Kaitlyn as they watch their husband and daddy leave this world.

As we wait to hear the news, I can't help but think of the song "Love Them Like Jesus" by Casting Crowns.

The love of her life is drifting away

They're losing the fight for another day
The life that she's known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child's broken heart

You're holding her hand, you're straining for words
You trying to make - sense of it all
She's desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She's looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
Love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

I am going to do my best to love Maria like Jesus. And in the meantime this week I have hugged my kids a little tighter, lingered with them a bit more at bedtime and rocked them a bit more than usual. More and more my eyes are being opened to the fact that life is so short and we only have so much time on this earth before our testimony is over.