I have wanted to write about this for a while now, but sometimes it is difficult to put my thoughts into actual words and complete sentences. The things that once came easy to me now require a little more concentration. A little more focus.
As you can probably imagine, we have received an enormous amount of cards, texts, calls, comments, gifts and food over the past (almost) two months. In the picture above, you see all the cards we have received. There are about 60 cards in that picture; there is about one card per day since May 29. The cards here are from all over. We have cards from people we have not met. We have cards from people who heard about our loss from others, and they have taken the time to write a card of encouragement.
Recently, Ty and I were talking about our faith and God. Ty said something that day that has stuck with me for a few weeks now. He said, "It's hard not to acknowledge God working through others over the past few weeks." He was right. It has been easy to only acknowledge the bad. It is easy to blame God or be mad at Him. At the same time, I see the cards, flowers, gifts, gift cards and other acts of service that others have done for us since we lost Jensen. Three different people have mowed our lawn. We've been given meals and cookies. We have both received a lot of texts, even from people we have never met. In the early days and weeks, many of our family bought a ton of toiletries, paper goods and other necessities for us. Our families also did other errands for us, like getting us plants and chairs for the front porch, feeding the dogs, cleaning our house and fixing our back gate and sprinkler system. I am sure there are other things that others have done for us that Ty and I do not know about.
Yes, this summer has truly been awful. I would not wish this on anyone nor would I want to relive it. But I am also often reminded that being part of a church family and connecting with others is crucial to getting through the hard times. We have seen the love of the Lord shine through others. We have seen so many people living out what the Lord has called us to do. We have seen others put us before themselves. We have seen people give of their time, money and talents. We have witnessed others bearing our burdens, sharing, showing kindness and being loving, generous and compassionate.
If you are reading this, you have probably contributed to us in some way, even if it was not by physical gifts or card, but by praying.
Thank you.