A Human Tragedy

After a long week, Bruce and I did not really have any Friday night plans other than cleaning up around the apartment and watching NCIS reruns.  My friend Beth stopped by to pick up her camera that she had left at an event at school and we ended up reading cooking blogs and deciding to make cake balls.  We had so much fun comparing recipes as things were baking and cooling, tasting as we went along, watching Friends and taking pictures of the whole process.  I fully intended to post the recipe today, complete with pictures, tips and metaphors for life.

But then I woke up and heard about the earthquake in Chile.  I'm watching live reports of Hawaiians bracing for a Tsunami.  I heard some heartbreaking news about a family friend.  I laid in bed and cried until Bruce brought me into our living room to watch TV.  I thought about drying my tears and proceeding with my intended post - but it just didn't seem right in light of all that has gone on this morning.

This is the tragedy about who we are as humans.  You really never can plan for what is going to happen in life.  We all do our best to prepare for the unexpected, but often times it really does not to any good.  We constantly find ourselves in balance between the fun of friends and late-night baking with the bad news of natural disasters and friends in pain.  We have to find a way to live with this juxtaposition - and, to be quite honest, it just really sucks sometimes.

So today I am praying for all of God's children all over the world who are looking for and worrying about loved ones, trying to survive amidst the rubble of disaster, preparing for the worst and making difficult decisions.  I invite you to do the same.

I look at this human tragedy as a challenge - and know that my faith in God is the greatest tool I have to keep me strong as I navigate through it all.

Tomorrow I will be back and post my Friday Night Fun.  Because even in the middle of tragedy we all have to find a way to live.  We have to smile, we have to laugh and we have to embrace each moment - because each one is precious.

May God grant us all peace, hope and courage through life.