Day 26 Gratitude for Family and Friends and Honoring my Sister today!

Beth, Pat, Diane, Mary Catherine, Tom
(those who have gone to be with the Lord are my older brothers, Johnny, Mike and Rick)

My plan was to get back on track with linking to the gratitude pages at Holy Experience so having said that today I am grateful for ....

166. family

167. friends

168. His Word

169. Prayer

170. journals to express struggles, hopes, and dreams

below is the entry from my journal dated December 17, 1989 ...

No entry on December 15th but this is the day Catherine's life ended Lord You are the same today, yesterday and forever. Thank you for this. Lord, I have so many requests where to start ... Today will be a hard day ... tomorrow will be a hard day too. Today is the visitation for Catherine. Give Diane, Tim, John and Ken a special strength today and tomorrow. Lord, its hard to see your purpose in Catherine's death. Give Diane a peace she has never had over this loss. Help me to be aware of opportunities to share Jesus with her as I support her in the months to come.

Now today this is the day Catherine's brother John's life ended.

Who ever would have imagined I would be praying this same prayer 20 years and 11 months later as Diane has now lost her only son. Again Lord it's hard to see your purpose so would you yet one more time be Diane, Tim and Ken's peace giver!

Honoring Diane ... she is my older sister and she has always looked out after me. She was an amazing mother to my niece Catherine who was born with Rhett's Syndrome and died when she was just 10 years old. She was also mother to my nephew who struggled with mental illness which has a long history in our family. Today she cries at the loss of her son at the age of 32. I love you Diane and my heart hurts for you more than you can know ... I am praying for comfort for you today and in the months ahead.

I love you so much! B.