Our Father in heaven is merciful.
By His good grace, Jamie came to visit us here in Tennessee and to check on her dying father. He’s been in a miserable condition for quite some time and has nearly begged to die. His children have watched him lose his dignity and even his very will to live. She visited him on Friday, they had ice cream together and she told him how much she loved him. She told me later that she prayed that night that if at all possible, God would take him to heaven soon so that his suffering would finally be over.
He died in his sleep that night.
We have spent the week crying, remembering, laughing, grieving, cooking, cleaning, loving and all the while being thankful that we have shared these fleeting and precious moments together. My sainted sister has hosted us all for many days and has taken care of us like only sisters do. The time with family has been such a gift. We say goodbye with heavy hearts and count our blessings that Our Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask.
Our hope is in Him, whose resurrection has freed us from death.
from the Lutheran prayer book:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Merciful Father, You know how difficult these days are for me. In Your holy Word, You have promised to hear those who cry unto You in the day of trouble. Listen to my cries for mercy and send help from the sanctuary of Your grace.
Preserve me from bitterness of spirit, and rescue me from every temptation to despair. Calm my frustrations with the knowledge that my life is secure in Your redeeming love, for I am baptized into the death and resurrection of Your Son. Draw me out of self centered worry, which stifles faith, and cause me to take comfort in the Gospel. Sustain and strengthen me under every cross and affliction, that Your grace might be made perfect in my weakness.
Give me confidence to pray without losing heart and to trust in Your mighty deliverance according to Your good and gracious will.
Father, into Your hands I commend myself. Hear me, for the sake of Your Son, who alone is my Brother and Savior.
Amen.
{Comments closed. Jamie and her brother appreciate your prayers.}
I’m making blueberry coffee cake this morning. Number one, because I came home to a nearly full container of slightly shriveled blueberries. And number two, because baking is like therapy for me. And tomorrow my old house will no longer be mine. And today, I have get everything last little thing out of there. I went over yesterday to assess the workload and nearly lost it. The new owners are painting and making the place their own. It was all I could do to hold in a river of tears as I reminisced about ten years of memories, ten years of life well lived within those walls. I know that house like the back of my hand, every nook and cranny. Oh the meals that were prepared, the babies that were rocked, the crafts that were made, the books that were read, the trees that were planted, and the walls that were 
