Family

Five years ago a young dad was playing in the surf in Mexico. Swept away by a strong rip tide he had no chance of survival. He left behind a young daughter and a loving wife.

Last week tragically, against all odds, the wife, now 47, became ill with flu-like symptoms. Raging through her body like wildfire she was rushed to the emergency room. Unable to fight off the infection, four hours later, she was gone...

...leaving a ten-year old orphan. And a grieving family...lots of family. And that is what this blog is about.

Six siblings, half living in Indiana, half in Haiti. Mom and Dad co-founders of a school for Haitian youth 30 years ago. Nieces, nephews, their husbands and wives, and their children. Lots of children. All converging on eastern Kentucky for a funeral.

But it is not about this family that this blog is about either. It is about the family that was not related by birth but by spirit. The family of friends and co-workers who dropped everything to care for this family.

One couple, in Montana for the winter, called back to tell others to open up their home in eastern Kentucky and prepare it for the family and get the heat turned back on. Five bedrooms took care of the immediate family. Church members welcomed the nieces and nephews and kids into their homes. No one needed a hotel room. Met at the airport, the Haitian contingent was whisked away to the home for rest and refreshment. The kitchen was stocked, many said over-stocked.

Transportation would not be a problem. Two vans were rented and the proper number of child seats installed for the group. A team of volunteers was ready to take over child care responsibilities. An attorney volunteered to help with all legal matters. A physician stepped up to be on call for anything medical the family needed.

There was nothing left to do but spend the time grieving and celebrating a life too quickly gone and too rapidly lived.

This is the church in action. It should not even be a story, it should be so common place as to shrug a shoulder and think, "Well, of course they took care."

For those of you reading this post with little, no, or anti-religion biases, it's not written to sway you about the glorious practices of a church. Just this one. And I won't try to explain or justify the cosmic reasoning behind this unfair and tragic event except to write that we live in a very dark and dangerous world...for a time.

And that's what I think about it.