Our loss

Last weekend we spent all day Saturday at Jake's parent's house doing some organizing and cleaning in preparation for winter to come. I was in the house cleaning some old bottling jars when my nephew, Levi, came in and delivered some devastating news. He had found the body of a bird on the sidewalk and we all needed to hold a ceremony before he laid him in his final resting place- the flower bed. With long faces and somber hearts we joined the procession.

Levi took a moment to say a few words before we all quietly bowed our heads for one last moment of silence.

Then the time came to give the bird the respect he deserved. The kids all took turns digging a part of the hole and Emma gently laid the bird down.

As Levi was putting the final scoops of dirt in the hole, Luke looked at me with a very solemn face and said "Man, I am going to miss that bird!"

And that was that. It was back to playing "hide and seek" and I don't think the bird was mentioned again for the rest of the day. This is a cute little story that I couldn't help but put it on here. I almost feel guilty joking about it though because I found out a few days ago that one of my friends that I haven't talked to in years took his own life last month. It has been quite an eye opener as I have looked back and evaluated my own life. I can only thank my Father in Heaven for all the blessings that are continuously poured out upon me. My heart breaks whenever I hear something like this happening. I struggle to understand how someone can feel so low and that their self-worth can be completely wiped out. It makes me realize how much of a grasp Satan has on this world. My whole life I have been taught how much my Heavenly Father and my Savior love me. I have felt that love in very poignant moments of my life and could never mistake it for anything else. It is a feeling that everyone on this earth should experience. I hope that my friend has felt that love now. If nothing else- I hope he finds self-worth and a knowledge of what our Savior did for him. I hope he learns that he was included in that Plan of Happiness and our Savior is extending his arms out to him out of pure love. I pray that he can find that validation that he wasn't able to find while he was on this earth.