It's Not Fun to Cry on Your Birthday

I hate for this post to be a downer, but it's 7:01 am and I'm sitting in the family room in tears.  

Part of the tears are sleep-related, I'm sure.  (I slept great until 5, but after a visit to the bathroom, I was wide-awake.)  I finally gave up on the effort to go back to sleep and came downstairs at 6:30. (Yesterday I was wide-eyed at 4!) 

Of course I turned on the TV first thing to check on Gustav's overnight behavior.  At church yesterday (and Saturday) we set aside a portion of every worship service to pray for the potential victims of the hurricane--particularly our Katrina-spawned friends in Burris, LA. It looks like the brunt of the storm may hit a little west of them, but they'll still get throttled pretty soundly.  The "good" news is that the storm seems to have downsized a bit.  As of this writing it's a Cat2. So, there were some Gustav-related tears.

Yesterday at our birthday/Labor Day cookout with family and friends (the Bakers--Billy's birthday is tomorrow), Billy informed me that Jason Caid, one of the "kids" who was in my HIU summer high-school tour and eventually a student at Hope, died suddenly of a rare cardio-vascular condition in mid-July.  Another former student had posted the blog account that Jason's wife wrote describing his death. Reading that brought more tears.  

I don't mind (too much) embarking on the last year of my 6th decade. [No, I'm NOT 69!!]  I mind terribly that a young husband was taken away from his loved ones just after completing his 3rd. Although he's gone to a far better place, the truth of his wife's closing statement remains:  "At 7:15 PM on July 13, his heart stopped and my heart broke."

"Lord, as I enjoy the fun perks of starting a "new year," help me remember that there are many who are dealing with life realities today that are altogether void of fun."