All good things must come to an end.

I'm on the downhill slope towards going home. Of course, I miss it, I miss James TERRIBLY...ugh. But I LOVE being here with family, no matter what...I love them ALL. Every single one of them with all my heart. I have to take a deep breath when I think about leaving, I swallow my tears. Which isn't good...since we are singing in Church tomorrow (I Stand All Amazed) and I'm hoping to get thru it without bawling.

Today was a long day...but a fun one. We went down to Hurricane to Sand Hollow, which was fantastic. I have a ton of pictures, but am running out of time and will still have tons to blog when I get home.
I wanted to share this picture Em took....it's just too much!! I love it.
Tuesday morning we fly home and arrive in the afternoon...so, until then Ü, Stay classy, San Diego.

Sweet hour of prayer.....

You know the hymn....now that you've read that title...your singing it in your head:
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father's throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter's snare By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
And oft escaped the tempter's snare By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear To him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face, Believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my ev'ry care And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
I'll case on him my ev'ry care And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

I know everyone has a prayer in their hearts for the Grundbergs during the evacuation of their home. But the time has come to increase those prayers to a more fervent level. They have not been untouched by this storm and life is going to be very hard for them in the days/months to come.
And I also know ya'll already are...but I ask that you pray for peace of mind....pray for courage in facing the unknown, strength enough to face the coming trials and a knowledge that it will be ok! Pray for a tightening of family bonds, that these trials will bring their family unit closer together, including their extended family! Pray that their physical needs will be met.

I also ask those who are able to join our family in fasting on Sunday, specially for the Grundberg family. That our prayers might more strongly be heard.
The prophet Isaiah also taught of the true spirit of the fast: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isaiah 58:6–7).
I know the power of fasting works, and if we can all join together as brothers and sisters, I know the Spirit will be felt and the abundance of blessings will rain down upon this truly deserving family!! That OUR strength can become THEIR strength and we can undo the heavy burdens that have been placed on their shoulders!

The Grundbergs are so lucky to have friends and family like you, the way you gather around with support! What a wonderful blessing!!

Tragic.

The weekend we were gone to Arizona, we get a call from a neighbor telling us some news. Our neighbors right next to us died in a tragic car accident. And I'm not using the word "tragic" lightly...it was seriously horrible to hear how they died.
It's been almost 2 weeks since this happened and I am just now posting about it now b/c I have been searching and searching the internet to find out what really happened to them. The neighbor that called us said a semi crossed the median and ran into them, ejecting them from the car. But if you click on that above link, you can see that wasn't true....though I'm pretty sure the ejecting still occured due to the closed casket funeral and the police report comment of "they were not wearing seatbelts." I also hadn't posted b/c truthfully...I didn't know their names! We have been in this house for over a year now and I had NO idea of their names, I just thought them as "the old, sweet couple".
Turns out they were Elmer and Mary, may they rest in peace.
They left behind a good sized family, with 2 daughters and several grand-children and great grand-children. My heart still aches for them when I see them pull up to the vacant house next to us and hug each other, give each other reassuring pats on the back. To have your loved ones just leave for the weekend and then to be gone forever....what a horrible thing! I think about how far away I live from my parents, my siblings....and the thought of never seeing them again, not being able to give them another hug, breaks my heart! Life can be so short....we never know what is going to happen. We just never know.

Of course, with all this said....I don't dwell for too long on that matter, mainly b/c I'm not going to spend my life behind locked doors b/c the world can be a hateful, ugly place. But also, I know in my heart that if ANY of my family was to leave this earth early, I would see them again. I am so proud of my parents, my sisters, my brother....for living a life where we could all be sealed together, where they can be sealed to their families.....and we can get our "happily ever after" in the life to come.