Oh, God, bring us the day when this darkness will end.

Texas and Boston, we are grieving with you.

I am so sorry.

It is sad; so deep, so bitter. This Boston bombing. The Texas fertilizer plant fire. The bombings in Iraq.

All of it.

All of the beautiful people who have felt the wrath and foolishness of another angry, possessed, and horribly lost soul.

Tonight I just feel it all. I can't stop crying. I just can't stop crying

Because the people out there - people just like me; normal people with jobs they get tired of, family they fight with - they are losing everything. Their best friends. Their legs. Their mom. Their dad. The very peace and sanity that comes with knowing safety.

Ecclesiastes says there is a time for everything under the sun. A time to laugh. And a time to mourn.

Today, oh, how we mourn.

I pray for the day we can laugh together in a place un-riddled with hatred and pain.

Oh, God, please bring us the day when this darkness will end.

Please bring us the day when this darkness will end.

New Life

Found this on my computer hard drive today. Little Joel when he was even tinier than he is now. How fast the wee ones grow. .

Downstairs I can hear a door creaking. Someone has got up for a late night snack.

Just the day before yesterday Mom, Papa and I were up at Mt Ashland looking for our family friend, Carol Koon. She was lost - on the day a blizzard struck the mountain. We were all scared. Steve, her husband, was absolutely distraught. His face was sunken in; defeated; all life, all Steve, drained from him. Without Carol he wasn't Steve.

Here was was a picture of a deep and intense love. A love that was being tested and yanked on; a love that remained damn steadfast. It was the most heartbreaking yet wonderful thing I have ever seen. Carol was found mid-morning of the next day. The relief that broke over Steve's face was nearly indescribable. It was as if the spirit that had left him suddenly returned; the bags beneath his eyes were gone; the sparkle came back into his eyes; suddenly he was able to smile, stand up, look at people and communicate. If Carol would not have been found I don't know that Steve would have been able to recover from it. His heart couldn't have taken it. Love like that is absolutely terrifying and absolutely inspiring.

Spring is here. New life; I'm ready for that.