"Oh How Joyful It Shall Be"

I woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. When I went to bed last night I had been so sad about the deaths of nineteen firefighters here in Arizona. I thought about all the families that are involved and just what an enormous loss of life. My friend has a son that works on a "hot shot" crew here and I called her to make sure her son was okay. I could tell she was an emotional mess and was relieved to hear her son was on another fire, not the one that killed all these brave young men. Why does God let these tragedies happen? Hopefully some good will come out of this horrible accident. We are having such a bad drought here in the Southwest and with the record high temperatures it has made the forest extremely dry and even a spark can cause a terrible fire. Three of my kids are out of town all week. I'm home alone taking care of all the critters while Mindi and her family are in Dallas. It is always nice to have some time to be alone and be able to think and relax, but I sure miss that little family when they are gone. Hopefully my sister and my friends will help me if I need to go somewhere, and Rich may even have to step up and help. Len and Julie will be home tomorrow which will be so fun to see them, it's been a long three years. Yesterday when we were in church singing the opening song, "Come, Ye Children of the Lord," the hair on my arms stood up and I got goosebumps. The words of the verse says, "Oh, how joyful it will be, when our Savior we shall see! When in splendor he'll descend, then all wickedness will end. Oh what songs we then will sing, To our Savior, Lord, and King! Oh, what love will then bear sway, When our fears shall flee away! Having all our fears flee away and feel the joy of our Savior is going to be the most wonderful thing to experience, I hope I'll be ready when that day comes.