Good times and bad....God is still in control.

It's been a difficult week in some ways and delightful in others. There have definitely been times of joy and times of sadness. A family we know through the Bievers lost their son after he did something stupid and died in a car accident. Two days later one of the little ladies in my Precept class that has been with me for seven years was killed on Highway 2 just up the road from us. She didn't do anything stupid, someone else did. Ryan was 20 and Gloria was 80. Ryan was struggling in his walk with the Lord; Gloria knew exactly where she was going. Our Tuesday morning Bible study held an air of sadness as Gloria's chair sat empty and we shared our fun memories of her. Ryan's family is going on a cruise to Mexico that he was supposed to be on. Our kids spent all weekend trying to line up bone marrow donors for a 19-year-old friend who has aplastic anemia. The transplant is her only hope. A man from our church took his life last Friday. It just seems like so much sadness.

I don't know how people who don't trust God reconcile life. Not much makes sense and sometimes it all seems unfair. But I know that God knows better. I know His big picture is infinitely clearer than mine. And I don't doubt for one minute that He is on the throne. I also don't doubt that He understands our pain. Somehow I feel a teeny bit better knowing that He lost a son, too.

And I am very thankful for the happy times, always keeping in mind that those trials that James talks about in his first chapter are likely just around the corner. I guess if we don't know pain, it would be impossible to know true joy. In both, I place my hope and trust in the Lord.