Mr. Bob's Cabin

Last night on Fixer to Fabulous...

Merry Christmas Eve, friends!

I have so much to say about last night’s episode of Fixer to Fabulous, and, over time, I’ll share more. For now, I want to share that Bob passed right before Easter. And, that Sunday, I was slated to speak at church. I didn’t know if I could do it. Yet, I also knew it was a chance to talk about my friend and all that he had taught me. For instance, he taught me most everything I know about caring for sheep. And, so, on Easter Sunday, with a shaky voice and tears streaming, I spoke about our Good Shepherd and how I learned firsthand what it takes to be a shepherd from Mr. Bob. I spoke of the Levitical requirements and how, in our humanity, offering up a Passover lamb had to be impossibly difficult. I couldn’t imagine willingly offering one of my four-legged babies to be placed on an alter as a guilt offering for my wrong-doings. I read Lamentations 3:21, “Yet I still dare to hope…” and I shared:

We can be sad but we still have Hope.
That’s the Easter story.
That’s why we celebrate.

And, as I watched the episode last night, holding the hands of my tearful kiddos and offering hugs and tissues, all of the sadness came back. I was so frustrated that this episode aired THIS week. Just before Christmas. We are sad enough, after all.

But then, I went to my journal where I wrote that Easter sermon and read my words anew:

We can be sad but we still have Hope.
That’s the Christmas story.
That’s why we celebrate.

This cabin represents more than a cozy place to retreat together. It is in honor and in memory of our friends. Because, if you didn’t know, our beloved Jill joined Bob in Eternity four months after he passed. She never got to see the finished cabin. And, so, while we could always lament and become hard-hearted, we won’t. We will dare to hope in this place.