Sorrow and Joy

As most of you know by now, my sweet Daddy went to be with Jesus this week. It was a terrible shock to all of us, and these are by far the hardest days that I think any of us have ever experienced. Amidst all the sorrow, though, there is more joy than I could have ever imagined:
Sweet fellowship with our family
Encouragement from so many friends
Wonderful memories of Daddy
And that peace of God that everyone always talks about at times like this.

That peace of God that I had experienced in part before, descended heavily upon this house sometime last night. We spent an hour or so last night picking out hymns to be played and sung at the funeral tomorrow. We read our favorite lines and sung one or two. I think singing those hymns made heaven much more real and death much less significant.

When my fears started to creep in during the wee hours of the morning, Scripture flooded my mind and countered all my fears. God promises that he has a plan for our life and it is good. He promises that he is the husband to the widow and father to the fatherless. He promises that he will give us every grace and mercy to get through today (not the anxieties of tomorrow) - just today.

It will be unbelievably hard these next few weeks, but the Kimbrough family is still praising God even in this. Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for our testimony to be a sweet aroma to our friends who are not Christians. Pray for continued peace and rest, especially for Mama. Pray for wisdom for the future, because there are many decisions that will have to be made in the upcoming weeks.