Love From Beyond



April 5, 2012

Yesterday was heartbreaking.  The mass and funeral service were beautiful, but saying goodbye is never easy.  Both kids decided they wanted to "see" Uncle Hank and say their goodbyes.  We weren't sure if we wanted to allow the kids to see him like that, but felt it would help them understand better what death actually meant.  What I loved about the service was that the priest share three things:

1. We need to grieve.

2.  We need to celebrate his life.

3.  We need to finish what he started.  We cannot let his life be in vain. 

These are heavy promises and none that we will take too lightly.  We have the grief part down, no question about that.  We are so very thankful of his place in our life and have been expressing those thanks in every way we are able.  One reason I am particularly thankful for him is because he helped us go through the 10 lbs of paperwork on our kids to help us decide if we could handle them.  Now having our kids here almost a year later, I can't help but to think what if we had been too scared to adopt them, if Hank wouldn't have given us his thoughts... if we had lost out on the blessing of raising them.  Our kids were meant to be in our home. I have do doubt that God had us in mind to raise them when they were born.  They are so much a part of us already and I can't imagine life without them.  After looking at the paperwork that scared us Hank looked at me and said, " Do you think you can help them?  If you do, then you should do it.  They need a loving home.  Expect the worst and pray for the best..."  And that is what we have done ever since.  I was reflecting on this during the service and offering up silent prayers of thanksgiving to God and to Uncle Hank (as our kids call him).  I have been praying that I said thank you enough while Hank was here and that he knew how much he meant to me.  When we got home last night we were all exhausted and enjoyed a little down time.  Last night I felt like it was important to do something fun with the kids because we have been surrounded by so much sadness lately.  

Have you seen the sweet commercial of the family making Rice Krispies Treat Eggs with the candy hidden inside?  We decided to make those eggs last night.  As we were setting up I explained to the kids about how we can do things to remember people we love.  We talked about how this time of year- Easter- commemorates Jesus death and Resurrection.  We talked about how Uncle Hank is dead in his body but how his Spirit is very alive up in Heaven. 

How do eggs relate to life and conquering death?  They don't-- they just were an easy activity on a hard day.  What came of the project is what really made all the difference.  As we formed the last egg, my kids (entirely on their own) started to discuss who they would share them with!  You can imagine how my heart soared as they thought about our neighbors, Hank's family, and their teachers... how they put others before themselves.  If the story ended here it would still be beautiful, but it doesn't end here.  As we wrapped up each egg and placed it in their basket, they put on little Easter bunny masks that Grandma Jane had sent them last year before we even adopted them.  She sent a box full of sweet Easter treats and I still remember her words to me:  "I want them to know that I loved them and missed them on Easter, before they were even home and knew who I was..."  Again, if that was the end of the story it would be sweet, right?  Stay with me, this just gets better. 

As the kids got all dressed up to go outside it stated to sprinkle.  We were a little surprised because just moments before it was not raining.  We decided to walk in the rain and deliver our holiday treats-- them with their little bunny masks and a basket full of cookie eggs.  As we approached the first house we knocked and waited for our neighbor to answer the door. He had been very ill just a few weeks ago and we made him cards to make him feel better.  Yesterday, he stood in the doorway not 100% better, but smiling as the kids handed him our little eggs.  As we turned away we noticed the rainbows that painted the sky... No, that's not a typo, there was a DOUBLE rainbow that painted the sky as we walked from house to house with our little offering. We shouted back for him to take a look at the rainbow and he just said, "Beautiful".    As we walked on to the next house we just looked at one another and fought back tears and giggles, and just knew that at that moment Jesus and Hank were looking down and smiling.  Hank does know how thankful I am - and I think he was making sure I knew that he knew.  We had made the eggs to remember them, and shared them with our neighbors-- in that way, we followed the greatest commandment-

Love the Lord your God, and Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

In a time when we felt like closing our hearts and feeling sad at our loss we reached out and the love we felt was magnified in a way that only the beauty and mystery of a double rainbow could explain. 

In this photo you can only see one rainbow but there were two

To make this even more beautiful-- literally as we opened our door to enter we looked behind our shoulders and watched the rainbow fade from view.  That is a treasure death will never be able to take from us.  So in case you were wondering if God (Jesus) is still alive and if your loved ones can see you during this Easter and Resurrection season, read our story and know that death has truly been defeated.  Our love keeps this life worth living and even death cannot take that away.  Love sweetly, my friends... for we are richly blessed.