These aren’t just two of the cutest little men to ever grace this planet.  They are MY little men.  The grinning two-year-old is Blake.  The screaming newborn is Mitchell.  And this past week I got the unique privilege of honoring both of them.

God has used both of them to impact their worlds.  He will keep doing that through each of them.  One through life and living.  One through death and dying.

Last weekend I was in Olympia, Washington (my hometown) to attend my 30 year class reunion.  Sweetly, that put me in the town where Mitchell is buried.  Exactly on his 16th birthday.  My parents took me to see his grave and to pray, remembering the lives that were impacted by Mitchell’s brief life on earth and the even greater impact that has been made as a result of his death.

This weekend was a very different scenario.  We took Blake to begin his college career at Colorado State University.  It was the picture of life and vitality, both in the ultra green scenery and in the 5000 new students who swarmed the campus.  A new place with new people for Blake’s life to impact and make a difference as he has always done in the past.

It struck me what an incredible God we serve; that He can use both death and life to transform people. He’s been doing it for all time and even did it with His own Son.  Using death to bring life.  It’s His trademark.

The past week has been full of all types of emotions – some pleasant and some not so much.  But every emotion seemed to be underlined with the truth that NOTHING, not even death or change or sorrow can keep God from accomplishing His plans and purposes.  And for that I am eternally grateful.

Blake and Mitchell, thank you for being sweet vessels through which God has moved and continues to move.  Thank you for giving me the amazing honor of being your mom who watches in awe as God does His thing through your life (Blake) and death (Mitchell). I, for one, will never be the same….

Romans 8:38 – And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Romans 14:8 – If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.