My Friend Angie

I have a couple of friends that  I met during my time working at Macey's grocery store after high school.   Julie and Angela are sisters and are both very easygoing and fun to be around.  I even went one time with Julie and her husband, Randy, bungee jumping, they cheered me on and didn't get annoyed when it took me several minutes to finally jump.  I had the privilege of attending Angie's beautiful wedding on a cold, snowy winter day.   She looked stunning walking down the aisle in a white gown with rose buds embroidered on her dress.  Julie's baby boy had been wheeled down the aisle right before her, in a wagon, which was adorable.

I lost touch with my friends, after they both moved out of state to start their new lives in Iowa.  Facebook brought us together again, and I've loved being up to date with their lives and laughing and talking with them as if years haven't passed us by.  I got to share the joy of them both announcing they were pregnant within months of each other, both with their fourth babies.  A few months later Angie found out she wasn't just having baby number 4, but number 5 as well.  She and Jared were shocked, but thrilled at the thought of having twins.  They chose to wait to find out the sex of both babies until birth.  On March 26th, after a complicated birth they had 2 beautiful baby boys, Judah and Lincoln.  Everything seemed to be going well, we all laughed along with Angie about the joys of being a mother to 5 young children.  She joked on Facebook one day that she made it early, for once, to get the "Twinkies" to Target for pictures, only to find that she had gone to the wrong Target.  But she loaded all the kids back up and made it to get the twins 3 month pictures taken.  3 days later I couldn't stop tears from rolling down my cheeks as I read Julie's status update, informing all of us that Lincoln passed away early the morning of July 2nd.  What should have been a fun and carefree 4th of July weekend was now a heartbreaking and somber time for this sweet family.  The good thing, I told Will through my tears, is that Ang was able to get the twins pictures just a couple days before.  I haven't stopped thinking of Angela and Jared, along with their kids and the rest of their immediate families.  Not only did Jared and Ang lose a son, a brother, a nephew and a grandson were also lost.  I've said a lot of prayers for them, and hoped that peace would surround them.  This family never ceases to amaze me...They are so strong and know that they will see baby Lincoln again, they know that God has a plan for each of us, and although we may not understand why things happen, we have to trust that there is a better reason behind it.  After a long day on Saturday, I finally laid down in bed, ready to get to sleep, deciding to check my facebook as Will dozed off.  I first noticed that Julie had posted a sweet post about her sister and it made me cry.  A few minutes later I realized that Angela had also posted a blog post and as I read, I laughed at the sweet memories and sobbed at the story that few of us will ever have to live.  I am so impressed with the way Angie wrote out such personal words and her testimony that Lincoln is in a better place.  Now I know that if I'm ever having a bad day, I can remember that my trials don't seem so bad compared to some that others have to go through.  Go read Julie's and Angela's blogs (on my friends list)...You will be able to share in these sweet sisters joys and sorrows.  They both make me want to be a better person.  I love them both, very dearly.

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" -Romans 12:15