Joe is with Jesus!

Yesterday morning I picked up the phone to hear..."Chuck, Joe is with Jesus!" Friend Joe's wife called to let me know that she was holding him at 3:05 AM when he took his last breath and passed through that curtain of death. This was anticipated, but it still is a shock when it happens. As Judy related some of the details to me, I am afraid that I was not much encouragement as I made attempts to speak with a broken voice and tears streaming down my face. I wonder how many emotions hit your mind at a time like that? Thoughts of rejoicing, knowing that he is with Jesus but at the same time the realization that I will never be able to speak to him again this side of that curtain. Memories of those last hours with Carol just a little over six months ago are still most vivid in my mind.

I talked with Judy earlier while I was in Florida and she told me that page 66 in the book One Minute After You Die by Erwin Lutzer was a great encouragement to her. I did not have a copy with me then, but now as I look at that page, I am sure that I know the paragraph to which she was referring. Lutzer says; "Of course, dear widow, your husband who is in heaven continues to love you as he did on earth. Today he loves you with a fonder, sweeter, purer love. It is a love purified by God. Your child loves you; so do your mother and father. There is no more a break in love than there is in continuity of thought. Death breaks ties on earth but renews them in heaven." Do join me in praying for Judy, Jennifer and Jay as they go through the adjustment and loss of their much loved husband and father!

Our return to Charlotte went well and it is always good to be back home. I took Carol's brother and his wife to the airport for an afternoon flight home and was able to get through quite a pile of mail and emails at the office before coming home to "hit the bed." I fell to sleep immediately but awoke after a few hours and as I prayed for Judy and family along with others on my mental list, decided that I was so wide awake that I would send out a quick blog. Hopefully it is not too disjointed being written at this hour.

I cannot tell you how much your prayers and friendship mean to me. I am so richly blessed! What joy every believer in Christ will experience when we meet together on the other side of that curtain of death with each other and with our Lord. Free from pain, suffering and any further loss.

You are appreciated and loved!

Chuck