Not goodbye, but we'll see you folks later!

It's Wednesday morning, April 14, 2010. Another day has been granted to us. Time is getting away from us all and while you younger folks may not realize it, it is getting away from you as well. Monday evening my youngest son, Rodney, and I attended the viewing for Midge, aged 70, wife of Carl. They are a very special couple who we had gone to Church with some 10 to 12 years ago. They are people who lived their lives out in the open. They are genuine. She developed a fast moving cancer discovered last November. She and Carl are a great love story. Their love for each other was always on display. Carl worked with our Rodney many years ago and they became close. Carl is a man of few words but with a heart of gold. He became a mentor to our Rodney and it made a difference in Rodney's life. These are what might be called salt of the earth type folks, no fanfare or bright lights, just getting up every day and living out their faith as God provides. This is a tough one for Carl and we are praying that God will grant him the peace and comfort he needs to carry on.

Yesterday we attended the funeral service of our former pastor's dad, Darrell Evans. We have known these folks for over twenty five years and at 87, one could see that he had lived a full life filled with love for God and family. When I think of this gentleman the word that comes to mind is 'decent'. We had also attended his wife's home going service some five years ago. They were a gracious couple and he was a man of few words but one distinguished by the love of his life, his family. One could do worse than to raise up children who become servants of God and who raise up their children to become servants of the living God, many called to full time vocation in local Church ministry. Viewing the grandchildren and great grand children and their response to their beloved Paw Paw, it reminded me of how we all felt about my Paw Paw Mac. Nothing spectacular. No special recognitions or worldly accolades. Just the testimony of a life lived in devotion to God and family. Not a bad way to go if you ask me.

Now some may think these farewell events to be morbid. I've been around people who never wanted to even think about thinking about death. Hello? It is as much a part of living as life itself. I had not seen Brother Carl in a long time but our connection formed in our serving together caused us to be able to immediately share our tears and hearts as he mourned this great loss. A couple of months ago I was able to visit briefly with Mr. Evans at a special singing concert at our Church. He had been suffering some lapses in memory but on that evening he recognized me right away and we greeted each other warmly. My thoughts were: What a decent fellow. Folks, people matter. They count. Carl has meant something to us and especially to our Rodney. Mr. and Mrs. Evans gave us the pastor we had for many years. People matter. They count. But these departures remind us that someday folks will view our bodies and they will think about our life and what we meant to them and hopefully how we influenced them for God. We rejoice because these have gone on to their reward and based on their testimony we know that being absent from the body they are now present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8) What a hope! You might say you have little in the way of a testimony for the Lord to leave behind at this point. It's not too late for any of us because with God we can start today, or we can start over today, and while we may not be able to change yesterday we can make every day going forward count for time and eternity. May God help us all, including yours truly, to do that very thing! Amen. ........More later.