heaven | And 2 Makes Crazy

That’s it. I am officially preparing for it! Hell. Or is it hell? Lowercase H? Or am I even allowed to write that word on my blog? You know…as a pastor’s wife.

Hmmm. Good question. Should I have written H-E-double hockey sticks?

But it’s true. I am officially preparing for it.

Did you know that I have already lived through it?!

It’s called an Arizona summer.

And, yep. I am definitely preparing for it.

Glad it won’t last an eternity, even though it seems like it.

June 22nd I will escape Hell (hell) and hop on a jet plane…flying back to Poland. For good. And good means as long as God directs us to remain.

Feelings. Well, they are up. They are down. Ultimately, however, they are peaceful.

Will I be sad? More than words.

Will I miss my family? More than words.

Will I survive? Barely. And that’s where God will have to definitely step in and help me change a few diapers.

Okay. Okay. He’s not in the business of changing diapers—but he is in the business of being our steadfast. Our constant. Our steady.

And so I will survive. With great joy. Because I am very excited to return.

That does not cancel out my feelings of sadness. I love Arizona. I love my family. I love the United States.

But I love God more. And right now, during this season in our life, we have been gifted the privilege of living in Poland. Of working in Poland. In seeing people around the world make a difference in the lives of thousands of others.

That is awesome.

And I was just kidding about Arizona being hell. Or was I?!

To sign off until you see me on the other side of the world, I will leave you with a link to a blog posting by author, speaker, and life coach, Lisa Skabrat, as she wrote a post about a brave young man and his fight. In it, she made a very loving reference to our daughter Adelyne’s spirit of strength. Please take a moment to click and read it.

It helped me remember: Although we are scared, with God we can be brave. And Fly a Little Higher!

Until you see me on the other side of the pond, I wish all of your crazies out there well (I’ll stop by to update the Top 10 at the end of May).

In the meantime, a big American hug and 3 Polish kisses thrown in for good measure. Or, as my husband would say, 3 Polish kisses just for fun. After all, who doesn’t like kissing hot babes?!

Before I leave, remember to click and take a read: When Life Demands to See What You’re Made Of (Adelyne is written about in this article)

See you soon…On the other side!

Yes, I am Richard, the husband of the wonderful Brooke. Yes, I will attempt to write on her blog this week. Notice the word attempt…I’ll do my best.

I could not have asked for a better wife, friend, partner, and lover. Brooke, I love you.

And yes, you read it right…my new Chevy Camaro! Here are the pictures to prove it:

Okay, now that I have your attention. And, yes, like all dreams, we have to wake up and return the car to its rightful owner.

I don’t really own a Chevy Camaro, but, if anyone ever wanted to donate one, I would be happy to get you your tax deduction ;).

This past weekend my daughter Adelyne and I traveled to see my grandmother (my mother’s side of our family) who is 92-years-old in Sacramento, California. She is my last living grandparent by blood (Brooke has one grandparent left on her side of the family too). We were also able to visit the “Ranch” in Placerville, California where our great, great grandparents settled back in 1856. Gold Rush and Gold Fever ran rampant through parts of California, especially in Placerville.

In fact, there is still gold in them there hills!

It was so much fun taking Adelyne to see and experience a lot of my childhood memories of where I grew up playing with and being loved by such great and awesome grandparents.

I would have to say that my grandparents are gold. So precious and so rare to have had the opportunity to even know them. They are legendary!

I took Adelyne through her great-grandparents’ house on the ranch on Saturday. We walked to the back of the house where the master bedroom was located. Adelyne turned on the light and looked into their closet. She saw some of her great-grandmother’s dresses and started to proclaim, “Wow…Wow…Wow…WOW! These dresses are so beautiful. Dad, why didn’t she take these to heaven?”

I love the innocence of a child. I proceeded to remind Adelyne that we couldn’t take anything to heaven. Once we die, nothing material that we have will come with us (not even a Camaro).

But the one thing that we can take with us is the hope that one day our children, families, friends, neighbors, and even strangers will hear and accept the hope that we have in Jesus.

Take the time today to be bold and talk about the hope that you have in Jesus. It just might be legendary to your children, grandchildren, and beyond.

And, then, you may hear…

“There is God in them there hills,” they will say!