Losses

This week we had a tragic death of the father of a young family, Jeff Dalling. It is the second such death in our church this year. He was a public servant who traveled into harms way in both Iraq and Afghanistan in the past several years. He was also on our prayer team, and we all prayed for him and felt relieved that Jeff didn't have to go back overseas. He died of a brain aneurysm. I am so sad for his family....his wife and children are going to miss him so much, as will our church. He was a good man, a true servant from what I knew of him.

I've been thinking about the Roth family, another family who lost their dad this year. It must be really hard going through this again with another family in our church, at least for Tresa and the older kids. Pray for the Roth family, too.
I know we know we will see our loved ones again, but it's so hard when Heaven seems so far away, especially to children.

Other upsetting news came from my family. My brother, who has polycystic kidneys, like my dad had, went to see his nephrologist in Denver, CO. My brother's kidney function has gone down from 60% to 47%. He is only 49, and he seems to be losing function a lot quicker than my dad did. He will most likely have to have a kidney transplant...I thought about giving him one of mine, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me, because of my lupus and diabetes. Pray that my brother's kidney deterioration slows down and maybe that there will be a cure for his disease. He's had to quit his job because of pain and will hopefully be on long term disability and then social security disability. He has a good attitude. He said that he has an opportunity to be home with his 15 year old son now, and he may not have that time later. That makes me sad, too, but proud of my brother. I'm going to go see him this Feb. I think.