You all know that the month of December did not turn out anything like I expected it to. On December 8, I preached the second of what was to be four sermons in a Christmas series. It was the last sermon that I preached in that series. On that evening, everything changed. Then on December 14, Christine and I planned to hold a Christmas Open House and 40th Anniversary Celebration. Instead we held a celebration of her life that day. Those are only the highlights.
While losing Christine has not been easy and while the last month has been anything but easy, the Lord has made some things clear to me through it all. I would like to share some of those with you.
(1) Life is fragile. James 4:13-14 says, “Come now you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” We too often live without any thought that life could end, but sometimes it vanishes as quickly as a wisp of air. Here is a chance for us to pause and consider how we view our lives.
(2) Family is important. Besides the Lord walking with me through this time, I have been immensely blessed by my family walking with me through this. Nancy and Dave were with me everyday from December 9 through the day I came home after Christmas on December 28. They handled a huge number of details. What a blessing they have been!
Then there was our extended family. Christine and I love everyone of them. Our siblings and their families arrived from all over the country. Christine’s brother, his wife, and two of their daughters handled parts of the funeral itself. All of them helped each other with rides to and from the airport. We were all shocked and sad, but all exhibited the spirit of Christ through everything. Christine was influencing people for Christ before I knew her, but perhaps her greatest witness was that of her family at her death. Love your family, make friends with them because you never know when you will have to go through difficulty with them.
(3) The church is important. I lost count in the first day of how many churches, besides Westwood, were praying for us. They not only prayed, but they sent flowers and cards and some came to the funeral and the service at the cemetery. I have found that Christians will practice unconditional love like their Savior in the most trying of times. I have been a recipient of such love before, but never more than at this time. Those of you from Westwood have been leading the way during this time, and I cannot thank you enough. Learn to love like Christ and go out of your way to demonstrate it to people when they need it the most.
One of the blessings that we received came by way of a letter on the last day of 2013 from the Lions Eye Bank. Nancy and I decided early the morning Christine died to make a donation to the Lions Eye Bank of her eyes. On December 31, I received a letter that our donation went to a man from Neenah, WI, who received an opportunity to see again.
We can bless people today with longer and better lives while on earth through organ transplants and donations. The greatest blessing of life, however, comes through the resurrection of Christ. Only through him can we experience eternal life. Christine now experiences eternal life, and by the grace of God we will too. Live for him every day.
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