Weep with those that Weep and Rejoice with those that Rejoice

This is going to be an interesting post as I have very opposite things to report, one sad and one very happy. I'll start with the sad. Yesterday morning we got the news that the night before one of the guys from the village fell over dead (we think from a heart attack) while he was in front of his house chopping wood. I have never met them and the Archer's don't know them well either but we have been keeping up with what is happening, small village life everybody knows what everybody else is doing. He was only in his mid thirties and he leaves a wife and child. We were told yesterday that his little girl (she's about 5) hasn't been told anything about what is happening or that her daddy isn't ever coming back. The family is a very Orthodox family and they believe that the only way a person can be saved is if the people that are still living do things for the dead like how the funeral is done, lighting candles, ringing church bells and paying the priest. I don't know exactly how funerals work here but I do know that right now the family has the body in their home and people are going over there and sitting with them, the actual funeral is tomorrow sometime so the body will have been dead for over three days by the time it is burried. The whole thing is just so sad to me, please join me in praying that this loss will make the others become dissatisfied with the emptiness of what they have and that they will start to look for the truth, for Jesus.

Now for more happy, exciting news. Please join the Archers as they welcome Nathaniel Curtiss Archer into the world. Daniel and Whitney Archer (the Archer's oldest son) are now the proud parents of an 8lb 3oz 20in baby boy. Whitney is doing well and both mother and baby are healthy. It is so much fun to see the excitement as Grandma and Grandpa celebrate, they have gotten to see a couple of pictures and they are definitely very proud. They are very thankful for Internet that allows them to get the news so quickly that he is here and doing well and can even see him.
Well, I think that about wraps it up, this was definitly a most interesting post to write, it is an amazing thing that one family can be grieving and the other rejoicing over the loss or gain of life and we as christians can (and should) feel for both even though what they are going through is so vastly different. Our god is awesome.