Taking the good with the bad

This is a lesson my husband and I have been learning in the hardest of ways lately. Being away from family is always tough and we always look forward to times when we can see them. Having people in our lives that we know we might never see again is always tough. When we were home last in June Jonathan's grandmother had already been diagnosed with cancer and from first glance it immediately did not look good. My grandfather is 91 years old and has lived a glorious life but he is unfortunately in and out of the hospital more often than anyone would like. When we gave these two people hugs last June as we prepared to leave they were the hardest hugs to give because we both feared they would be the last.

The semi-good news is that we will both gets hugs again soon but I know for Jonathan this one will be even worse. For Jonathan, this will probably be the last hug he gets from his grandmother until we get to heaven. Jonathan's grandmother received news last week that she should stop treatment and was not given much good news. It is for this reason we will be coming home soon. That is the good news but we certainly wish it was under different circumstances.

It will be wonderful to see everyone again but certainly will put a damper on the homecoming. So once again we are learning to take the good with the bad. We are learning to be grateful for the time we have to see our loved ones and pray that if and when the last hug does come they know they were loved and we will surely see them again in the kingdom of heaven. So please keep us in your prayers as we make hasty preparations to travel home. Please pray it is as joyful a time as it possibly can be. Please pray we have safe travel. Please pray we find someone to watch the pups while we are gone because I am their mama and I want them to be in good hands even if they end up staying in different places.

Well there is much to do and not much time to do it so I will try to keep you updated as I learn more.

Ashley, Jon's sister, with his grandparents.