ahoraattempting to slow down and take in a bit more of my life and what's going on around me |
December 23rdSaturday, December 23, 2006 This is Kent...my FIANCE!!! Yes, he proposed to me tonight after making me an amazing halibut dinner...  ...and then when we opened presents, this was my Christmas gift from Kent - isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!? So...here's the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Kent and Shelly Hendricks :)  It's Over!!!Saturday, December 16, 2006 All my exams are done. My papers are handed in. My project is presented...and now I feel oh so relaxed and happy.It's time to enjoy life again. Let the relaxation begin! Shelly =Sunday, December 10, 2006
Yup...it's true. This past week was pretty rough: Tuesday night, went to bed at 2:00am, Wednesday, 3:00am, and then Thursday night...didn't sleep AT ALL! (did I mention that I love Calvin College?). Tomorrow is the beginning of my LAST finals week at Calvin College and I am SO EXCITED (to be done, that is)!!! It's gonna be another rough week, but I will be glad when it's over! Ready or not, here I go... In Memory of Sam Post...Tuesday, December 05, 2006 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him..."~I Corinthians 2:9~ This is a picture of Sam Post, a 5 yr old boy from my congregation who passed away Saturday, November 25, 2006 around 12:20pm after about three weeks of ups and downs: being diagnosed with leukemia, then was free from leukemia, then got an infection from a spinal tap, then got pneumonia on top of the infection...and his little body just couldn't handle it anymore. His 6th birthday was bittersweetly remembered and celebrated by his family 3 days after he died. I have never before been to a funeral for someone so young...all I kept thinking was, "This just isn't right...." When I was in 8th grade, one of my friends passed away after a 3-yr battle with cancer. Losing Kevin was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever been through...and I knew it was coming. I cannot even imagine what the Posts are going through right now when they only had a 3 weeks' warning. Sitting in the pew of my church, looking at the casket at the front of the sanctuary with flowers, a ball glove and a baseball hat on top of them...looking at his parents and his 3 older siblings...listening to his mother's testimony of his short life...seeing his grandma raise her hands in praise while we listened to the lyrics of "Praise You in the Storm" by Casting Crowns... "I will praise you in the storm, and I will lift my hands for you are who you are, no matter where I am. And every tear I cry, you hold in your hands. You never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I will praise you in the storm." That particular image of Sam's grandma lifting her hands in praise amidst one of themost difficult times she and her family have probably ever experienced really struck me. I just kept thinking that it was such a paradox of the Christian faith - somehow, by God's grace, we can have hope amidst travesties. We can question yet know that God holds the answers. We can doubt while knowing that God is sovereign. We have now entered into the season of Advent - a season in which we acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, came to earth to die and conquer death so that we could have the chance to reign with him in eternity. In Advent, we not only recognize Christ's first coming, but we recognize that he will come again to completely restore and redeem our fallen world. This also means that we acknowledge all the crud (and other nouns that I probably shouldn't write here) in the world that makes us say things like, "This just isn't right!" No one should have to bury their child...old obese people should not outlive young healthy kids that are so full of life.... This world is so full of injustice because of sin.... Thankfully, Christ's second coming gives us this hope amidst despair and reminds us that death does not have the final say - Christ has already conquered death. So right now, Sam's family grieves for him, yet celebrates the fact that they will be with him again in eternity - and the next time they see each other, it will be in the presence of Jesus himself. Come, Lord Jesus, Come... |
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