A(part)

LosWhit gave me a moment's pause this evening.

So I followed the link there to Mark and Angie's blog. It's an epic story. Yes. Epic. It moved me. And I wrote this;

"Angie,
I don’t believe we know each other. I linked to your site from ragamuffinsoul.com. Thank you for your honesty!

My uncle, whose name is also Mark, passed just over 20 years ago. I was so young, 9 I think, and I still remember the impact.
I was talking about it recently and remember the conversation I had with my grandmother the night we found out:
My parents and I were driving to be with the rest of the family. And I prayed, asking Abba to raise my daddy’s brother back to life- the story of Lazarus burning in the back of my mind.
As soon as we got to my grandparents house I bee-lined for my grandmother; I knew that she could answer my questions, because she knew more about God than anyone. I tugged on her dress as she was finishing her conversation with our pastor. She leaned over and took my hands, somehow sensing the desperation in that moment for me.
“I prayed to Jesus that Uncle Mark would come back to life. Will he?”
“Oh, honey, he’s been gone too long….”, she said, after a slight pause,her voice quivering.
The whole event expanded my world. My cousin and I, 16 days apart, became best friends even to this day. It was a day of firsts: The first time I saw my hero- my daddy cry. (I still know the exact path his tears took as they rolled over his eyelids and down his cheeks.) The first time I knew that somehow it just wasn’t all fair. And the first time I doubted even God.

I can’t imagine, nor pretend to know, all of everything you are going through now. May Abba continue to bring His mercy every morning. Blessings.

~Nick"