driving up & down I-95 has become old hat, which is good considering the slight daze i was in as i drove from my aunt’s house back to northern virginia.  uncle k, aunt jane’s husband, had made a dvd of old home videos of our family dating back from the early nineties.  i’ve packed quite a few pounds since i was ten years old, but my voice hasn’t changed at all, my brother pointed out.  it was almost mind-boggling to see my cousins and me as such little people. 
 
by the time my mom, brother and i reached the hospital early this afternoon, she’d already passed away.  must’ve been God who held me together, who constructed a dam preventing tears from bursting forth.  just because i didn’t really cry doesn’t mean i didn’t hurt watching my mom and aunt weep over their sister, right?
 
it could be denial. it could be irrational faith. there was no loud charismatic shouting as i lay hands on my aunt; quietly, i prayed in the secret prayer language only God understands (’cause He gave it to me).  my hands shook as i prayed and found myself rocking ever so slightly.  finally with as few people in the room, i prayed aloud (but not loudly).
 
a part of me still wonders what it is exactly that i asked of the Lord, in my spirit, confident before His throne of grace. 
 
here’s a confession:  it’s morbid, but i think about my funeral as often as i wonder about my wedding, and thought about even more these past few days.  i may have to start put it in writing, but let me get it out there, please NO pipe-organ playing hymns that will be sung in korean.  don’t get me wrong, i’m not a pipe-organ hater, but not my first choice in musical accompaniment.
 
thank you for your prayers; continue to lift up my family.  my grandma will be returning to the u.s. from korea tonight.  i pray that my family, especially my cousins and now-widower uncle will hear His voice and sense His presence.  if you want/can, please join me.  i love that in Christ, i find family from all over the country and world.
 
“son of man, can these bones live?”
“oh sovereign Lord, you (alone) know.”
– ezekiel 37:3.