Peace....

Death is never an easy thing. I have never been one that deals easily with it, especially with ones that I'm close to.

Today, I lost my wonderful friend Melissa to cancer. She's been fighting since last fall. We sung together in the praise band for several years. We reconnected after her diagnosis, and emailed frequently. We both were able to share with each other how much our friendship meant, and both knew that if we could just turn back time, we would take better advantage of the time we had together. She was so very strong in her faith. She was such an inspiration and an example. Words really can't describe her. Mel was full of life, very animated, and always had a story to make you laugh. Music can bring back so much, and there are certain songs that will always remind me of Mel. So much of my praise music has Mel and her key written on it. As hard as it is to see right now, I'm glad I'll always have a small reminder of her.

She always knew that no matter what her journey was, that God was in control. Even when she couldn't see Him, she trusted Him. She never strayed from that, she rested in it.

I've asked God too many times to count, "Why God? Why Melissa??" But I must rest in the fact that He is in control. That even though her journey on this earth is over, her legacy will live on. Once I can get past my selfish reasons of why she should be here with us, I know I will be jealous that she's walking on the streets of gold and she's celebrating, singing, worshiping and seeing Jesus face to face.... what could be better??????