.A simple trip to watch a girls volley ball game at Legacy Christian academy that sends you down memory lane..

Romans 15:13New American Standard Bible (NASB)13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever been down to see a railroad switching yard with it's myriad of different length tracks, some going forever and others that abruptly end?  Our lives are like those tracks.Those who have experience the loss of someone special in their lives know full well what I am talking about. When Maria passed away her track ended.  The tracks of her friends from Meadow Creek/Legacy Christian school continued way. 

 One e mail entry from August 2007 told the story of my wife hosting a 'party' for Maria's friends. They played games like hit the pinata, eating ice cream sundae's, being awarded 'prizes' from some of Maria's favorite earthly possessions, and they patiently listened to my wife talk about heaven and grieving. Her e mail described how many of her friends cried deeply and they were reminded that just as they missed Maria's famous hugs, they should give each other hugs.

On Thursday I joined my wife to watch the Legacy Girl's volley ball team play Heritage Christian academy. Many of the girl's on that team played on the varsity team. How I wished, like Super man, I could put on my red cape and reverse the planet and set back time and like Super man be there to prevent our tragic loss.  As a man I wanted to fix things. It is what we do best and when tragedy struck that ended Maria's earthly existence, so did the relationships we had with Maria's friends and their families.

That is perhaps the  hardest thing about the grief process, not being able to experience those other relationships through our loved one. As I watched the game I was reminded of Maria's birthday parties many of these girls were at.  The party at the Mad hatter in Anoka where our son play the role of the door man, greeting each of the girl's and their parent that bought them. The party at the Craft store where they had fun making things and having fun being together. The sleep over Maria had with another girl friend following our son's indoor soccer game. These were all precious memories I wished had continued.

It was fun to live these memories as we watched many of her friends play in the volleyball game that night. One player I noticed and one of my daughter's best friend was very good at encouraging her teammates with occasional hugs on the court. I smiled as I reflected that our daughter's infamous hugs lived on through these girls.

I was reminded also that the hope in Christ is that life doesn't just end when we die, but our lives continue as we experience the joy of heaven.  Maria is in heaven, enjoying fellowship with all the saints and giving hugs and receiving hugs from our risen Savior.  Our lives continue with a mission not yet complete, to bring others to the risen Savior.  As I watched this volley ball game I knew many of Maria's friends were doing an awesome job at that!