wow time flies
and my poor lil blog never keeps up! A lot has happened since i've last
posted..both very painful, and very exciting.. on November 6th my L.A.
mom was tragically killed in a car accident, it was a horrible shock…
Rachel was an amazing woman. I wrote this soon after it happened in
remembrance of her.
Rachel Witmer
When
I think of her a flood of thoughts and memories rush into my mind.
Moving to Los Angeles in January of 2010 I was a young man in trouble. I
was still reeling from the pain of losing mom and moving in with the
Witmer family was exactly what I needed. I needed a mom. One that could
love on me, correct me, guide me. And that is exactly what I got from
Rachel. There were many nights where just the two of us stayed up long
into the night doing a puzzle, talking, whatever. She really treated me
as a son. When I was sick she would go way out of her way to help and
care for me. She worried over me. She made my lunches and did my
laundry, She was so hospitable to everyone she met, so gentle, so
caring, and loving, She truly was an incredible woman of God.
All that makes saying goodbye that much harder. As the tears flow down
my face, my heart is screaming, “why, God why?” How could you do this
to my “family,” - to me?! I know You are good, but do You care? Really
care that this breaks my heart? In the days and nights ahead when I sob
myself to sleep are You there? When I ache to hug and talk to her, and
she’s not there, do you feel the pain? DO YOU GOD?!”
My thoughts go to the song that helped get me through the pain of losing mom, and now Rachel, It goes:
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or
song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows
weary and long?
Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is
touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights
dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As
the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be
near? Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on
earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught
to Him? Does He see?
Though
there is still a lot of questions and pain, its so comforting to know
the He is in charge and DOES care! If you think of it please remember to
continue praying for the Witmer family as they continue adjust to life without
their wife/mother!
The
Lord provided amazingly cheap ticket so dad, Sharilee and I were able
to go to Colorado and be there for the funeral and also Rachels son, and
my good friend, Asher's wedding. After returning to Thailand, we
finished up the last semester of IGo before I had the incredible
opportunity of visiting Egypt for ten days. I absolutely loved the trip!
We had lots of touring and sightseeing mixed in with meeting many local
Christians. I was so blessed to met them and see their faith and how
bold they are despite the many pressures and persecutions again them.
Heres one picture of the team I went with, if you'd like to see more I
did put more on Facebook.
After
wrapping up our final IGo term my family took a vacationing trip to
southern thailand. We were at a beautiful Christian retreat for a couple
days. It was wonderful!
Caden adored the monkeys and loved feeding food to them :)
dad, de, and I kayaked out to a island a couple miles away...after almost capsizing a couple times and a few sore muscles we made it back :)
On
my final day in Thailand my brother took my zip-lining in northern
thailand for the day. it was so much fun and great just to spend one
last day with him!
After
once again flying the long flight back over here to america (the 22nd
time i've done the 13 hour flight) to where I am now, still barely
struggling with the effects of jet lag. Its been wonderful reconnecting
with my friends and family here again, and being here for Jesse and
Charissa's wedding…after like 20 years of liking each other it was about
time they got married :)
Ice fishing for the fourth time...i think it'd be one of my favorite things to do if it wasn't always so frigid :) i guess thats why they call it "Ice" fishing
some of my favorite people! :)
I'll
be here for another week before heading out to Washington where I will
be starting a new phase of life and hopefully helping to further God's
Kingdom out there in Newport, WA. I'd appreciate prayers as I make this
adjustment. I'm very excited about it and yet there is a lot of unknowns
as well.
