Exactly two years ago, Mother’s Day 2005, my life took a devastating turn.  It was on that day, returning home from a visit with my grandmother, that an inattentive semi-truck driver forced our SUV into somersaults in the median of I64.  This resulted in the tragic death of my beloved mother, on her special day.  Due to my own severe injuries, I wasn’t even made aware of this loss until a couple of weeks after the fact.  This means that not only did I lose my best friend, but I didn’t even get to say goodbye or take part in the celebration of her precious life.  You can imagine my first thoughts – “Why God?  Why take a 22 year old’s mother away?  There can be no good answer for this.”  I struggled with this for a long time, doubting my own faith, doubting God himself.  Then I found a church where I felt so welcome that I could share these thoughts and make some important decisions.  After speaking with Mark, I decided that instead of doubting God and trying to figure out his motives, I simply needed to trust him.  Mark told me that when it comes to theology, there is mystery and there is grace.  The wreck was a horrible mystery, but my decision to be baptized and join this wonderful church is grace.  I probably will never understand why my mother was taken from me at such a young age - not getting to celebrate when I got into graduate school, not getting to see me get married or play with her grandchildren.  But I know she is watching over our family and I know she is extremely proud of me, especially on this day.  I chose to be baptized on Mother’s Day to both honor her and to give this day a more positive meaning for my family and me.  I now understand that I shouldn’t try to figure God out, and I trust that he will continue to allow more positive experiences to emerge from what was a horrible tragedy.