There’s always lots going on here, but some weeks are especially full.  When I only check my email once a day, go days without so much as glancing at Facebook, and simply cannot touch my blog, I know it’s an especially busy time. And this one’s been filled with both an increase in activities and occasions as well as some emotional extremes.

Last week we got the news that one of our Classical Conversations tutors had been killed in a tragic car accident.  He had gone out alone in the evening – to pray, to read God’s Word – a typical practice of his as the primary caregiver/teacher at home.  He never returned.  Police arrived at his home in the early morning to inform his wife that his car had been found in a ravine off a local road and that he had been killed from injuries sustained when his car hit a tree.  We were shocked.  Cooper had started the year off in his class last year and I was thankful for this godly, strong, masculine example for my son.  Cooper was later shuffled to another class because of changes in enrollment, but Mr. D continued to be quite a presence on our CC campus.  I will always remember his weekly exhortation to the young men of CC to “remove their caps” before the morning prayer. Mr. D was our designated “pray-er” as the only adult male on campus.  The women were grateful for his presence. The kids thrived under his commanding and knowledgeable teaching style and were thrilled when he brought in their family’s gigantic snake for family presentation time.

We were blessed to attend his funeral last Friday and hear person after person stand and tell the stories of how he had been instrumental in their lives – neighbors, long-time friends, a sister, and parents from CC.  Dr. D left behind a wife and four children, and a lasting and meaningful impact on many lives. He was only 42.

While still taking in the gravity of this loss, we were faced with another one just days later.

Robert ran to the grocery store early Thursday morning to grab some syrup for breakfast.  He ran into a friend of ours who told him that our friend Lisa was in the hospital after being diagnosed with colon cancer just 4 weeks previously.  She might not make it through the day, our friend explained.  Moments after he returned home and relayed the devastating message to me, the same friend called to say that Lisa was gone, having passed away sometime earlier that morning.  I could hardly take it in.  Wasn’t I just chatting with her at the farmer’s market downtown a few weeks ago?  Didn’t we just have a lovely conversation while sitting next to each other at a baseball game this spring?  How could it happen so fast? 

Lisa and I were not extremely close, but I enjoyed serving on the board of our local Woman’s Club with her for several years.  We sat with her and her husband at Woman’s Club holiday dinners, and enjoyed seeing each other at baseball games where our boys were usually on rival teams.  We ran into each other in town often and she was always so warm, kind, and sincerely interested in me and my homeschooling endeavors.  Lisa had left behind her job as Vice-President of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City to be at home and raise two sons.  She was involved in every aspect of their schools and sports teams, and I remember her being especially concerned about the math curriculum and standards at the high school level.  She often asked about our homeschool math and other curricula as she passionately, but gently pursued what she felt was best for our local public schools and for her boys and family. 

The funeral home was filled with grieving family, friends, and neighbors this afternoon.  I talked to a mutual friend and neighbor of Lisa’s to find out more about the time line of her final days.  She had been diagnosed on August 24, had surgery in Boston 2 weeks later where it was discovered that the cancer was too advanced and entwined with too many other organs to operate.  She was taken to a local hospital to begin chemo, but suffered a stroke and never came home. She was 56.

Both seem like such great losses, and yet I know that God is perfectly sovereign. His ways are higher than ours and He can be trusted even in the most difficult of situations, the deepest of valleys.

Sandwiched between these two tragedies, I attended a really fun wedding on Saturday night and a Beth Moore Living Proof Live conference in Lowell, MA on Friday and Saturday.  The conference was such a wonderful experience.  Her humor, humility, and teaching gift coupled with the humility and amazing talent of the worship leader, Travis Cotrell, made for and incredible atmosphere of worship.

Beth taught on the Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus, focusing on the pondering heart of Mary, and the treasures that she stored there.  Mary is highlighted in those verses as the exception to those around her who were “amazed” by all that was happening, but didn’t necessarily treasure or ponder them in order to eventually pull the pieces together and obtain true understanding of the plan of God that was unfolding.  From many beautiful places in Scripture, she encouraged us to recognize the treasures around us, to ponder them, and to allow the Lord to grant us understanding in that meditation.

And Beth reminded us of one of my favorite places to go in Scripture when I’m struggling to understand why what’s happening is happening…

When we can’t find treasure, we need not go passionately pursuing one, but the ONE in whom they are always found…Christ Himself.