A Little Heavy

I am concerned that this topic of grief is a bit heavy, but given the past few months, I just need to get this out somewhere.

Tears are falling and I haven't even started... Friends from Pennsylvania had a baby in July - stillborn. Their first. Healthy 36 hours prior. I pray frequently for our friends and I cry every time I do.

Our sermon on Sunday ("Good Grief") was about grief from the passage with the well known verse, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35). Dominie began by stating that grief is an emotional response to loss. In conclusion, Christians have hope even in our grief. He contrasted performing a funeral for a Christian family versus a family who does not believe in Jesus Christ, noting despair as the common feeling of unbelieving families.

A family friend from high school lost her husband to Cystic Fibrosis in June. My sister and her husband separated in August. My grandpa's Alzheimer's disease is progressed to the point of difficulty with daily routine as per family report last week. My mom is having a biopsy Wednesday.

I feel the loss, the sadness around me. As I was giving Two her bottle last night I was praying and just overcome with sadness for our friends who should know the joy and delight a child brings into the home. All their hopes and dreams for this little boy were shattered. They never got to know their son. They grieve for their loss and I grieve their loss because they don't fully know everything they are missing.

Dominie is right. If it weren't for my faith in Jesus Christ, the hope of resurrection and the promise of eternally dwelling in the House of the Lord, I would be filled with despair. But it's still so sad! So I get to cry and hug my babies a little tighter. But not too tight. Their lives and mine are entrusted into the care of my Heavenly Father. While I don't understand, I don't have to. I just have to trust.

#1

My first issue was how on earth to spell "Conundrum". How handy that internet is! I'll be flagging this online dictionary for future reference.

But really, my main issue of the week is what to do with all the cotton-pickin' tomatoes! Or are they tomato-pickin' tomatoes? And we don't even have a garden! My mother is touring London and Paris this week (*sigh*) so my dad keeps bringing over the bounty as he certainly isn't going to eat them all. The problem is, as creative as I am, I am sick of tomatoes, my husband is sick of tomatoes (and he's much more tolerant than I!) and if I'm really lucky, I can sneak a few cherry tomatoes into the baby. Thing One thinks he likes them but just holds them in his mouth or spits them out in no particular direction.

So, here's my tomato list for the past month:
1) Tomato Salad (my own adapted version that's really nothing like this recipe which used among other things, a leftover "string cheese" stick no one liked the texture of)
2) Bruschetta (x2)
3) Bruschetta Chicken Bake (x2)
4) White Bean Chicken Chili
5) Cincinnati Style Chili
6) Chicken Catchatorre (oops... let me check my dictionary....) try Cacciatore

And... I just found out the in-laws are bringing me some nice, fresh, Western Pennsylvania tomatoes from their garden. They'll be here tomorrow. So what's a wife to do? The answer, my friend, is from my dad. I'm freezing them whole! So this winter my family can enjoy fresh Bruschetta chicken, Chili, Chicken Cacciatore... If you have any good tomato recipes I think I need them.

NOTE: Every instance of the word "tomato" was originally misspelled in this post. All these years I've been improperly spelling the plural of "tomato".