Two years after my Mom died, I was sitting at her grave on her birthday. I was crying, thinking about her and how much I missed her. But then, an overwhelming thankfulness filled my soul. I sat and continued to cry, but lifted my hands and praised God for Sherry Rostek. I thanked Him for giving me such an incredible woman as a mom. I worshipped Him for His goodness in giving me Mom for 27 years - a woman who had loved me, sacrificed for me and showed me the way to Jesus in everything she did. Being able to truly praise God and be thankful for my mom instead of just struggling with the all encompassing reality of her loss was when I knew God had healed me from my grief.
I read this quote a couple of days ago: "Don't cry because it's over - smile because it happened." This puts into words what God showed me that day at my Mom's grave. But it's also something I'm trying to put into practice in other areas of my life, too.
We just came back from our amazing vacation to Washington to visit Chris, Erica and the kids. Oh how we love being with them! We call it our "Cordle Bubble" - for a week, nothing of the outside world gets in! We laugh, play, talk, share and bond in ways that are beyond precious. But when we get to the night before we leave to go home, boy do the tears flow! The kids cry, I cry, Erica cries - and Craig and Chris try to keep us from floating away on our tears (I think they secretly cry in the bathroom!)
So I'm choosing to dry up my tears and be thankful that I have an amazing sister and her phenomenal family. I'm so glad that we're close and that our families adore each other. And I'm also glad that Grammie looks down on her brood and smiles - well done, Sherry!
