You Never Know...

My friend, Jessica Kaylor, died yesterday. She was 33, a wife and mother, and had been battling breast cancer for about four years.

I showed up at Jake and Jessica's house yesterday about 10:00 am. I was there to get pictures from their computer so that I could start working on the slideshow for her funeral (at Jake's request). When I saw all the cars parked around the house, my heart sank. I asked someone standing outside if she had died, and he said no. When I went in, most of her family was standing around her bed in the living room. She was still alive, but they were grieving as it was plain she would not last long. I felt weird being there, so I kind of hid in the kitchen, standing where no one could see me. All I could do was pray for the family and Jake specifically.

As I was standing there, Jessica's grandfather walked into the dining area and sat down. He noticed me and said, "How are you today, sir?" I said, "I'm fine and I'm sorry you're not." He sort of lost his composure and said, "When you wake up in the morning, you never know what's going to happen before you go to bed at night."

I didn't know what else to say, so I just stood there in silence, thinking about what he had said.

You never know.

I am, of course, reassured that God the Father DOES know what will happen before I go to bed tonight. But I do not know. I think I need to stop acting like I do know or like I should know or like I should be prepared for everything and anything that comes down the pipe. Maybe it's OK to not know what's going to happen and to not even be ready for it, but to rest in the fact that He knows.

I hope and pray that this statement will stick with me for the rest of my life.

I pray blessing and peace on my brother-in-Christ, Jake Kaylor. He has soldiered long and hard; fighting for his wife, caring for her, sacrificing everything in his care and devotion to her. I know that he has a hard three and half years and that things are not necessarily going to get any easier as he now has three girls to raise without their mother.

He has been a tremendous example to me of what a husband should be.