Blessings in Challenges

It is just about a year now since our lives were changed by several challenges which the Lord allowed us to face. Now I will readily admit that the past year has been filled with much stress and weariness. But when we stand back and look at things, we realize that many folks are facing much more difficult challenges. My aunt had a stroke and she and my uncle have had to move to assisted living. Three other of my aunts are in nursing homes. Friends of ours are dealing with Parkinson's and another is probably in the final stage of cancer. Another friend has just been diagnosed with cancer and another is waiting for a biopsy. Several of our friends have recently become widows or widowers. And there are more. Now those are challenges that are much more difficult than ours. As we sit back and review the past year and our three family deaths, we see God's special leadings in our times of stress. We remember how the illnesses provided us with special times to spend with our fathers that we might not normally have had. And my dad's death provided more times than usual for us to spend with my brother before the Lord took him home. These final times together were special. The deaths of our fathers were both in the winter but happened at times when family and friends were able to attend the services. My father-in-law's funeral came during a break in some bad snowy weather that prevented us from actually getting to his grave site. But we were able to get within 50 yards of the grave because it was so close to the church parking lot. PTL, neither of our fathers suffered long, although Dianne's dad was in a nursing home for ten days. Both deaths came quickly with little suffering. My brother's death was preceded with much pain and discomfort, but God seemed to give him a special peace and comfort throughout it. Thankfully, my father was extremely organized and although it still took months to go through all the conference, church and personal records that he had, his organization made a probable very difficult job so much easier. Fortunately, Dianne's dad had downsized previously and since his wife received almost all of his possessions, we did not have all the problems of separating and disposing possessions that we've had with my father's house. And the very most important blessing is that all three are now in heaven. And that is where our fathers really wanted to be - with the Lord and with their wives. So while we've been stressed out at times, we realize how good the Lord has really been to us through this yearlong process. We've also learned a new empathy for those who must settle estates - we never realized how long and stressful this process is. We've learned more about the law than I ever wanted to know. We are still trying to straighten out some problems with Dianne's dad's estate, but we believe that the end of that process is nearing. Today my dad's house went on the market and if that is sold we will be able to at least see the end of the process of settling his trust. We are praying that even in this bad real estate market that the Lord has a buyer in the near future. Then we can think about moving on with life. So we take a deep breath and thank the Lord for his blessings and leading, even in this time of stress. God is good, all the time!