My uncle died this week.  It’s been a hard 3 months for my mom’s side of the family, especially her sister, Cathie, who lost her mom (my Grandma) back in November and now her husband.  I think I met Jerry when I was in grad school.  I liked him alot.  He was big and stern-looking at first but had a great smile and then you spent 5 seconds with him and realized what a kind man he was.  I was glad he joined our family and treated Cathie with dignity and respect like she deserves.  And now I’m angry that he’s gone.  He was young and had leukemia and the bone marrow transplant didn’t work and then some sort of cancer was discovered in these past few weeks, and that was the final straw for his body.  It’s a raw sort of loss… I wanted he and Cathie to grow old together and I don’t understand why they didn’t have more time.  I’m removed from it — I can’t go out to the funeral because we have such young children and that just makes travel impossible.  But I hurt for my family members who are hurting very deeply.  I wonder how God endures all the pain He sees… He must grieve pain and suffering and loss far more deeply than we do because these things exist from the overall effect of sin on us and our falling world.  He makes a way through, but it must feel like time to say “enough!” nearly every day.  I bet He longs to restore all of His creation at just the right time.  I look forward to that.