Ecclesiastes 3

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything,

   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,

   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,

   a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,

   a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,

   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,

   a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,

   a time for war and a time for peace.

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So, we have this elf.

A gift, a tradition, given to us a couple weeks ago by my Uncle Dave and Aunt Nancy.

Last night, Elf was busy!

Throughout the night, Elf gathered most of the stuffed animals in the house and read Christmas stories to them by the light of the tree.

This is what Makayla walked down to this morning...

Her animals on the couch.

Elf with a book in hand. 

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It's going to be hard work during the next couple of weeks to keep the JOY of Christmas alive.

My Uncle Dave passed away this morning.

Unexpectedly.

I feel like part of my world should come to a screeching halt

...but I know that it can't, and it won't.

Unexpected deaths are enough to rattle your body and open your eyes to life, but it has an even greater impact when someone you love passes away around the holidays, a couple of weeks before Christmas. 

Of course, I'm filled with sadness that my uncle has died.  I wasn't prepared for this.  I wasn't ready. 

But I know that my sadness doesn't even compare to his siblings, and definitely not his wife's.  And trying to comprehend their sadness fills me with even more tears.

The hardest part about death for me, are the ones left here on Earth.  My Uncle Dave is safe and no longer has to bear the sufferings and pain of this Earth.  While he is now an angel in Heaven, all of his friends and family are grieving.  Watching people cry, be mad, and be sad, is what breaks my heart. 

It's the process of people trying to figure out how to continue living a life without him is what breaks me. 

Elf is tied to a sadness right now and it's going to be really difficult to make him magical in the eyes of Makayla every night.  Everytime I pick that little elf up, I know I'm going to be overcome with all sorts of grief, emotions, and memories.  As easy as it would be for me to pack Elf up and not put myself through that extra reminder every night, I could never do that to my kids.  I need to keep our new tradition going and not be sad to do it, but be thankful that Uncle Dave was the giver of Elf.

 thank you loving us and loving my children. 

thank you for the memories.

you were a good man.

i will miss you, uncle dave.