Mourning and Joy

Sixteen months ago, we lost Brian's grandma--his mother's mother. Five years and seven months before that, we lost his mom. In a nutshell, Grandma's will left each of the five boys 5% of her estate--the portion that would have been Sarah Ann's, had she survived. The money comes before we pay for our trip to China. Amazing.

If you saw our "Big Praise" post and if you saw David Wecker's column (and he, upon my request, graciously left Grandma's part out), you know that God's been there financially and in every other way He could be. I know He's at it again. We knew it weeks ago when we found out this was happening and we knew it even more today when we got word that, essentially, "the check is in the mail."

I wish we could have our cake and eat it, too. I wish Grandma and Grandpa Stahl and Sarah Ann and Grandma and Grandpa Bishop and Grandma and Grandpa Taylor and Uncle Richard could be here to meet Charissa. I wish we could see their eyes sparkle when they were around her, because I know they would. I know they would enjoy watching her grow up right along with us and they'd be cheering us all the way now as we prepare to go.

But even though they'll never see her or play with her or watch her grow up like we hope to, they played a big part in this--financially to a degree; in our hearts a whole lot more.