Life lessons......

Sometimes in life something comes at you at out nowhere....
out of the clear blue.

Sometimes life gets sooo comfortable that when tragedy does strike....we are NOWHERE near ready for it.

Life lessons come way tooo early sometimes.

But just like an AVALANCHE....pain can change the lightness of your life....to HEAVINESS.

A few nights ago, as we slept, our SWEET, SWEET, dog Maya got out of our yard and was hit and killed by a motorcycle. Our neighbor found her nad Jay found out at 7 am and had to bury her alone in the woods near our house.

I knew when I saw his face....there is a CERTAIN LOOK a man has when he is SERIOUS.

Jay had that look. I knew. There. was. something. wrong.

Our eyes met thru the old fence panels, "Maya was killed last night. DO NOT tell the kids right now.I just buried her.", he said in a shaky voice.

My heart silently broke for our sweet girl.
My heart broke for my kids....we have been thru the death of a dog before.
But the kids were WAY younger....so it was easier to "get over".

I stood silent for a moment and then turned to the house....which now felt like a puzzle with a small peice missing.

As a parent you want to SHIELD your children from pain. You want to KEEP them from heartache.

But ...in life....pain is inevitable.

and so is death.

It was a LONG day filled with "where's Maya?" questions paired with " When will she come home?" ...while I waited to talk to Daddy and decide what we were going to tell them.

I went back and forth between NOT telling them, which included LYING to the EVERYDAY, and telling them the harsh truth (Which I knew would devestate them).

In the end...we chose the TRUTH.

Because life is fragile and GOD is in control...and
WE
CAN'T
DENY
IT!!!!!

No matter how much we wanted to IGNORE the fact that Maya was gone...we couldn't.

THAT would not make it go away.

So we subjected their little hearts to the terrible news that one of their beloved BFF's was gone.

It was one of the most HEARTBREAKING things I have ever seen.

We wailed as a family for our fallen Maya.

We cried and hugged..all night.

We TRIED to understand and we learned new saying like "I can't wrap my mind around that"....

We answered questions from a 5 year old like, "So Maya is dead right? But we will see her again, right? But not till we are OLD right?"

And we watched as they told EVERY PERSON that they saw that Maya died.

And in turn...we had to tell the story TONS of times.

HARD questions.

HARD answers..

But...in the end...They always know that the TRUTH is everlasting, and you can't run from it or deny it....no matter how hard you try.

At the same time, life is beautiful and God reigns supreme.

He gives and he takes away...
and
ONLY HE knows when that will happen.

Thank goodness.

Psalm 27:4-5
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.