Mortality & Children

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”

Since becoming a father, two of my greatest fears involve death and my child. This week I’ve read blogs that directly relate to both of these fears—one from a friend of a friend, and one from a close personal friend.

Fear #1 : Death of My Child
I don’t believe I knew what love was until I met my son. I also don’t believe I truly understood the sacrifice God made for me until I had a child of my own. I simply cannot fathom losing Tanner at any age, much less at such a very young age.
http://www.clarkkiddos.blogspot.com/

Fear #2 : My Death
I don’t fear death for myself. I’m confident in my future. But it haunts me to possibly leave my son without his father, and with such pain.

http://www.grassrootsconspiracy.com/blog/

Such stories of those living out my greatest fears gives me pause, and much needed perspective. Please keep these families in your prayers.

Filed under: Children, Death, Perspective

God Is Enough

I wasn’t going to mention the Steven Curtis Chapman tragedy today because if you run in my circles you’d be hard pressed not to have known about it already. But after visiting the blog they set up for condolences I was thinking how positive I am that the Chapman’s would get through this. From everything I know about them, their family put their faith in God to get them through this way before it ever happened.

This video came immediately to my mind.

Is God enough for you?

Filed under: Death, Faith, God, John Piper, Life, Prosperity Gospel, Religion, Steven Curtis Chapman, YouTube

Remember When?

Do you remember 9/11? The Tsunami in 2004? Katrina?

Do you ever look back and wonder if you could have done more during those times of need?

Today we have another opportunity.

Make the most of yours.

**UPDATE**
Thanks to Shane for doing the leg work on this one.

Every penny helps and no donation is too small:

» World Vision: Southern Asia Cyclone Relief

» Compassion International Disaster Relief Fund

» Samaritan’s Purse: Myanmar Relief

» Christian Aid: Burma Cyclone Appeal

From CNN.com:

One of the hardest-hit areas is Pyinzalu, a small town on the tip of the Irrawaddy delta, which has not fully recovered from the 2004 tsunami, according to World Vision health advisor Dr. Kyi Minn in Yangon.

Survivors from the delta villages described bodies along the road and floating in the rivers as they walked more than 100 kilometers to Yangon. That, Minn said, has had a significant mental impact on the survivors.

Yangon was pretty much back to normal, he said. Roads had been cleared of debris, and electricity and potable water were available.

World Vision, which has 500 aid workers in Myanmar, has provided aid in the country for more than 40 years. In a rare move, Myanmar’s junta specifically asked World Vision to help provide aid to cyclone survivors.

Filed under: 9/11, Burma, Cyclones, Death, Faith, Katrina, Life, Prayer, Service, Tragedy, Tsunami

Life Is Fragile

Are you making the most of your time here on this earth? My friend Stef just wrote the following on his blog. Sure helps put things in perspective. At least for me.

A dark place…

This is where I was over the weekend. It was lonely there and I didn’t like it at all. After getting the CT results, the mental battle began. It is hard to continually get news that you don’t want to hear. The battle raged all weekend long. There were thoughts of death, arguments with God, sleepless nights. It was hard and too real to deal with. What is going to happen with me? What is going to happen with my family? Cancer sucks and life is not fair at all.

We met with my oncologist yesterday for my next round of chemo. He said the CT results were not as bad as the report read. Ye said, yes, there was a “little” more growth, but the chemo is keeping the cancer at bay and causing it not to spread out of control. He noted that the bladder was probably ok and I am getting an MRI on Friday to rule out any bladder issues. The visit was going well until I asked a question I have been wanting to ask, but have been afraid to get the answer to.

The question was whether or not my original two year prognosis has changed at all. To my surprise, the answer was no, my prognosis has not changed. This gives me 15 months left, speaking humanly and statistically. I was crushed and emotional to say the least. What if God chooses to take me? What will happen to my wife, my kids? They need a husband and father. It is not fair for my kids to loose a father at such young ages. Not fair at all. So, I find myself in another dark place, praying, wondering, crying…

Yes, cancer sucks and life is not fair.

Filed under: Cancer, Death, Life, Perspective

Life. Death. Rebirth.

This past weekend I was able to sit down with a retired pastor of a church that I visited frequently. Recently he was fighting for his life, and only the miracle of a heart transplant allowed him to still be here today. He and his wife were handing out literature for organ donations. To hear him speak with humility and with passion about the very thing that saved his life stirred up emotions in me to the point of action. I took the brochure and am in the process of officially becoming an organ donor. What better way to go out than to help save the lives of others.

And then Monday ESPN launched some new programing called E:60. The first feature was about Jason Ray, the former mascot for the University of North Carolina, who tragically died earlier this year. Jason was an organ donor and they chronicle his life and the lives he touched as a result of his decision to donate his organs and tissues. I challenge you to watch this video and read this story and not be effected.

More Information:
» organdonor.gov
» shareyourlife.org
» giftoflifemichigan.org

Filed under: Death, E:60, Giving, Jason Ray, Life, Organ Donation, Rebirth

Lyle Ellison (1919-2007)

Everybody called him Pops. He had a signature shuffle, liked to lick the butter knife, and coined phrases like, “Put it on account. On account I ain’t got nothin’” and, “You can’t have hair and brains both. It’s a shame to get jipped out of both.”

He took the place of my namesake when I was only a couple years old, so for all intents and purposes, this was my Grandpa. From the stories I’ve heard, the first time I met him I asked my mom if he was Barney Rubble. It turned out he wasn’t, but he was a character unto himself. He absolutely loved to play games. He’d always tell me to save my nickels for the next time we got together. If I won, I got to keep the money. The best part was if he won, he just gave me the money back.

One of the best memories I have is how he loved my Grandma. All he ever said was how sweet she was, how good she could cook, how much he loved her, how lucky he was to have her. If I could take one thing from Pops, that would be it—appreciate what I’ve got, and let her know it…publicly and often.

I wasn’t sure about his eternal future until I heard God talk through my Grandma in the funeral home last Sunday. I have no doubt now. And it makes me happy to know that God’s grace is so much greater than mine.

I’ll see you soon Grandpa… and I’m saving my nickels!

Filed under: Death, Grace, Life

Control

I’m a self-confessed control freak. You can ask my wife for confirmation of the depth of my depravity. I’m not even sure where it comes from. For some reason I don’t really trust anyone other than myself. If something is going to go wrong, and I’m going to feel the effects of it, I want to be the person responsible. That’s the biggest reason I hate flying. It’s a control issue.

But I live in a world that is completely unpredictable. Take Saturday for example. I had a nice little day planned. A little lawn work, visit some garage sales to look for a nice used bike, catch a movie or two, enjoy some much needed relaxation with the family… It sure didn’t work out that way.

I woke up Saturday morning to find out my brother was in the hospital with a huge kidney stone, and facing the possibility of surgery. So I headed up to be with him. While I was there I heard that my good buddy Sam took his wife to the hospital for some acute stomach pain, and they couldn’t figure out the cause. Around lunchtime I snuck out to go grab a bite to eat and while I was out I received a call that my grandfather had just passed away. A couple hours later my wife calls and tells me that her sister was just in a car accident. All of this happened within a couple hours, and within a few miles, of each other. And not a single one of them were within my span of control.

The one thing that I could control was my reaction. And instead of running to the one thing that is constant in life, I avoided Him. I was already in a funk going into Saturday, and this sure didn’t help. Late that night I was trying to figure out how to get all my responsibilities taken care of so I could skip Sunday all together. I wasn’t in the mood to be around people, or in the mood to sing cheery songs.

Turns out that was the one place I needed to be, and should have been the first place I turned. All morning long I kept getting encouraged by my friends and family, the worship brought me face to face with the Father, I heard stories of life transformations, and the lesson was about God being in control. (Funny how that worked out.)

Later that afternoon I was sitting in a funeral home with my grandma and chatting up stories about pops. I had been avoiding telling people that he was in a better place because I honestly didn’t know that to be true. But grandma told me how just last week she was talking to him about Jesus, and how grandpa had said he trusted Him and loved Him. It brought tears to my eyes and further convinced me that I control very little more than my reaction to the world around me. And boy do I have a lot of work to do.

“We cannot change the direction of the wind… but we can adjust our sails.” —Anonymous

Filed under: Control, Death, Faith, Life, Quotes

Passion: Hope For the Hokies

Passion has released a special free album in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. It includes tracks by Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, the David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin.

Our desire is that these songs will encourage anyone at Tech, or around the world, who is looking for sure footing in the wake of these tragic events. They are born out of belief in a God who comforts and repairs, a Heavenly Father who has paid the highest price to rescue and restore us all. And because of Jesus we believe light can shine in darkness, life can come from death and hope will endure.

DOWNLOAD »

[ht: Church Communications Pro]

Filed under: David Crowder, Death, Hokies, Jesus, Life, Music, Passion, Rescue, Restoration, Virginia Tech

Gone To The Dogs

I’ve been meaning to write about this for awhile, but a friend of mine (and soon to be blogger) just sent me a rough draft of a letter he intends to send to the local paper.

To catch you up on the story he’s referring to, a white deer in our community was recently hit by a car. So they held a memorial service. For a deer. I’m not kidding. You can read about it Here and Here.

Gone to the Deer… and Dogs

I appreciate The Tecumseh Herald’s coverage of the death of the white deer of Tecumseh for one reason. It was a wake up call revealing how apathetic we have become to human need. I am amazed at how low we have truly descended as human beings. During the “memorial service” of this animal an elderly person passed away alone somewhere in this county. Does he get a eulogy? While tears were shed on the grave of this creature somewhere a newly conceived human life was snuffed out. Does she get a story or at least an obituary? And then there are the living. One thousand dollars was eagerly doled out to purchase the carcass of this animal and yet, somewhere in Adrian, a teenager has taken up residence in an alley or the backseat of a junked-out car with no food, scarce clothing and no protection. Hungry and homeless, lost youth, forgotten elderly, unprotected infants. All among us. And yet we read of plans for a dog park and a memorial service for a European deer. How ironic that we honor an animal but dishonor our own. Maybe some among us have degenerated into the likeness of the beasts they worship, thus the attraction. God help us, please.

—Dan Bacus

When did we switch from caring more about animals than for the real people that are all around us?

Filed under: Death, Life

The Information Age

Tombstone + Hard Drive + USB = Graveside Memory Capsule.

Filed under: Death, Memories, Technology