Weekend Trip to Michigan

With the busy-ness of fall, we haven't made it back up to Michigan since September, when John passed away. {See this post for background info.} We have desperately struggled with wanting to help Kim and the kids, yet being 3 hours away has inhibited those efforts. So we have faithfully prayed. Every day. Often throughout each day. And night. And while I completely believe in the power of prayer, sometimes I just want to DO. You know, tangible stuff. Cook. Bake. Clean. {Okay, I never have the desire to clean but you get my drift.}

So this weekend we were able to tangibly help in just the simple ways. It felt good to take care of Malia. Jack played ball with Landon and rough-housed with Gavin. Just helping in the care of children felt really, really good. It honestly wasn't much help, but we're hopeful that just a little bit of help was of some small encouragement to Kim.

In watching Malia, I brought the camera along and got some great pics. Enjoy. These two are little buds ... and have been since they first met.

They giggled and laughed and chased ... for hours. I kept wishing we had the video camera along to capture their giggles. Contagious. Carefree.





At one point, I overheard Jackson asking Malia where her daddy was? I quickly tried to divert him, which lasted for a few minutes, but as we were leaving he asked again, and kept asking until I finally had to address his question. So tough. I knelt down to his level and this is how our conversation went:

Jackson: "Where's Malia's daddy?"

Me: "Well, Malia's daddy is in heaven."

Jackson: "Why? Where's Malia's daddy?"

Me: "Well, he died, Jackson, so now he's with Jesus in heaven."

Jackson: "He died. Why?"

Me: "Well, he was sick so he died and went to heaven."

Jackson: "I liked Malia's daddy."

Me: "We did too, Jackson."

Jackson: "Did he die on the cross?" {He knows that Jesus died on the cross and now is in heaven, so since this is the first person he has known that has died, I think his little brain is thinking if you die, it must be on a cross.}

Me: "No, hunny. He didn't die on the cross. He just died and went to heaven."

Ahhh, this conversation couldn't end quick enough. To try to explain death to a three-year-old is so hard. Several days this past week {since coming back to Chicago}, he has continued to ask about Malia's daddy. Wondering why he had to die. How he died. Where he is. Will he come back.

And each time Jackson asks, I think how hard it must be for Kim when Malia asks those same type of three-year-old questions. Gut-wrenchingly hard for her.

If you think of it, would you please continue to pray for Kim, Landon, Gavin, and Malia? They need our prayers and while most of us can't tangibly help, we can certainly pray. And I believe that those prayers are what will carry Kim through the long nights and tiring days.

Hang on to Jesus, Sweet Malia. Hang on and HE will never let you down. NEVER.