This week had been “one of those weeks”. The gloomy weather seemed to have been a premonition of sorts. A friend’s husband passed away the previous week and I got to visit the wake Saturday morning. I choked back tears when I saw her and gave her a big hug. Some of her friends from work were also there and we all listened tearfully as she relayed the events that led to her husband’s passing. While I grieve for her loss, I also consider myself blessed to hear her story of true partnership, commitment to honor one’s marriage vows and love in action every single day. While their marriage may be short-lived, it was definitely well-lived. I am grateful for this testament of human love which reminds me that God’s love can only be much better.

Sunday night, our helper found one of our dogs dead in our nipa hut in the garden. Harry, our 6-year old mix breed, must have eaten something and either choked or got poisoned. While I realize that this might seem petty compared to the loss of human life, pet owners and animal lovers will agree with me that it is a loss nonetheless, and it caused us some level of grief. We love our dogs and they love us. We take care of them the best way we can and they give us so much joy in return. It makes us so sad to lose any of them. Plus we just lost Charlotte. Losing Harry so soon after is just sad. Anyway, I am blessed to be married to someone who loves dogs as much as I do, and to experience the joy of pet ownership. Nothing beats stress better than a four-legged family member jumping up and down (and sometimes peeing) with delight to see me come home.

We had a major milestone at work this week. We were having some issues at work and we took important steps to address them. I am so happy to be part of my team.

Here’s a passage from the Bible to cap this week.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

And a photo from this week before I go. This is Cain saying “Happy weekend everyone!”