Humility and Heartbreak

There are not many moments in my life where one sentence can change my perspective in a matter of seconds.  Especially when news I just received was about someone I will never have the opportunity to meet.  

My hometown has been shocked and shaken twice in the past 2 weeks by separate stories with incredibly sad endings.  Last week, while on Spring Break, Rick and his wife Laura were swimming in the ocean and got caught up in a strong under current.  Laura was able to escape the current and swim back to the beach; Rick was rescued by lifeguards but was unable to be resuscitated.  His wife and daughter are now left to pick up the pieces of this unexpected tragedy.  While I do not know this family personally, they have attended the church where I grew up for many years and my brother and sister-in-law had worked with Rick on their wedding invitations just a few months before...it hurts to see them hurting.  Many many prayers are still lifting up this family.  

The second tragedy is even harder for me to process.  On Saturday the kids and I were in the car with my parents - non-stop to the beach!  My brother called to let my mom know that a class mate of my sister-in-law's had been hospitalized with bacterial menengitis and they didn't think he was going to make it.  For all the obvious reasons, I began praying almost continuously for Adam and his family.  I have seen God perform miracles before.  I witness His miracles every single day as I see Ava alive and thriving...running and jumping and coloring and high-fiving (with her right hand)...throwing balls and doing cartwheels...these are all things we were once told she could never be able to do - and that was their "best-case" scenario for my then-17 month old the night they diagnosed her with bacterial menengitis.

By the next day my fears were confirmed; the testing they had done on Adam showed no brain activity.  He was only in his mid-twenties.  And though I was already incredibly heartbroken for this family, what I found out the next day resulted in a combination of shock and humility.  As I watched the sad news, and overwhelming requests for prayers make its way around Facebook, I found a friend explaining to another classmate what had happened. 

"He was feeling sick, so he went to urgent care.  He was dehydrated so they gave him fluids then antibotics...and sent him home.  After several hours he was getting worse and had a temperature of 106 so his girlfriend took him to the ER where he was then diagnosed with bacterial menengitis." 

The general facts in this explation could be word-for-word me describing the day they admitted Ava to the hospital.  We took her to the pediatrician that morning because she'd been so lethargic all weekend and was not eating or drinking hardly anything.  We were told she had an ear infection and was dehydrated.  They only admitted her to the hospital for fluids as she could have take the antibiotic for the ear infection at home.  The high temperature and lethargic symptoms Adam was also experiencing - exactly the same for Ava.  The only difference, and ultimately one of our biggest blessings, was that the hospital didn't send her home.  They wanted to monitor her for at least 12 hours before releasing her.  I literally Thank God for that decision every time I let myself go back to that day. 

I don't know why God chose Adam and Rick to go Home last week but I do know that His plan is always perfect, even when it hurts.  Through the illnesses and cancer diagnoses, through the losses of parents or grandparents, best friends and loved ones, through the complicated pregnancies and family trials...once you look through the pain and grief you will see God waiting to comfort you and continue to love you unconditionally.  "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Hopefully this promise can bring some comfort to the families and friends of Rick and Adam.  I am praying for strength and peace for each one of you!