Last night at 7:53, my friend Lucy from high school sent all of us old high school friends this message: "Rob got into Cornell! ..... We're moving to Yankee Land this summer!" Rob is her fiance, and they'll be getting married this coming July 9th. My heart burst with joy for my sweet friend whose confidence has truly blossomed these past four years she's been at college.
Three hours later on the same message thread, we all got this message from Kirby (also part of the high school gang):
"Hey everybody, I hate to break the mood here, but I wanted to tell you that my grandfather passed away yesterday evening. The funeral is not planned until Saturday the 12th as of right now, and it will be in Mathews. I think we are having a visitation on Friday the 11th. It would be great if you guys could make it to the visitation, because frankly I am having a rough time here in FL with all my family in VA and D.C. I don't think I am coming back to Mathews until the 8th or 9th because of midterms. (thankfully spring break is next week for me)"
And my joyful heart burst. Prayerfully, I considered what a blessing it is to see such a stark juxtaposition of joy and suffering. I considered what it is to love a friend who is on a mountaintop and turn immediately to another in a valley--to raise one hand in praise and simultaneously use the other to pull a man up. I thought of life bobbing in a universe of Good and Evil, but I imagined the divine orchestration of God's hand. Then, my spirit was humbled, and God showed his love to these friends through me.
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