Praying for the Bodens---A Time of Transition

Dear friends, will you take some time to pray for Matt, Kylee's husband, and their kids this weekend? Today Matt was planning to go through Kylee's clothes, lotions, makeup, hair stuff, etc. Saturday the family is attending a one day Rainbows camp for the kids that has a really good reputation for helping in the grieving process, connecting the kids to other kids who understand how they feel, who can walk through the process alongside of them. Also on Saturday, the Bodens are moving to a new house a few minutes away from where they currently live (Their old house was just 2 bedrooms for the 5 of them). Matt and Kylee had been making offers on houses and started this process last fall, so it is not something spontaneous. Additionally, Matt's sister Joy and her husband Bel and three year old son Joshua will move in with the Boden clan for a time to help with kid care over the summer while Matt transitions back to work full time. He's been coming in for half days for the last few weeks. Will you lift them all up as there are a lot of transitions in the coming days?

I helped pack at their house last night. Though I was only there a few hours it really hit me the next day. As one of my friends reminded me, "packing is an emotional process." Seeing everything in boxes, loosing that feeling of familiarity and "home" when you were familiar with where things were located in the kitchen, where the books, crayons, clothes for each kid were stored. That it was probably the last time I'll be in that house with them when I had so many good memories with them as a family there, having dinner with them before they went to small group and I babysat the kids, talking with Matt and Kylee on the couches in the living room when they returned, silly games I played with the kids involving kitchen chairs, couch cushions, sheets etc. I think they're getting a new kitchen table... I'll have to ask for directions next time I come over... I don't know what about the move will strike each of them. I do know that the kids are excited that there's a pool in their new house and that they get to live with their beloved cousin Joshua! That Lydia has a new dresser with "diamond knobs" that makes her feel like a princess. That I still cry regularly about loosing my friend, about how much I love her family. Matt told me recently that "to grieve is to love." God is so faithful in showing me the next step in grieving---when to journal, when to cry, when to talk with a friend, when to intentionally do something that reminds me of her, etc. I've scheduled one of those intentional activities for Saturday (It's not helping with the move) and would appreciate your prayers for that time as well.