Peace about death

Friends are a tremendous encouragement! What a delight to have dear friends from Michigan spend time with me this week. Our days and evenings were filled with catching up on each others lives and remembering many events that we experienced together over the years. We even managed to squeeze in a few extra hours to attend the Charlotte Spring Show and enjoy the beautiful exhibits with waterfalls and an abundance of gorgeous spring flowers bursting from their winter’s nap. It was a sample of what we can expect here very shortly, but is still a good number of weeks off for Michigan.

Carol’s cancer buddy John is still having a very difficult time. His past troubles continue to persist and the new chemo has put him flat in bed with exhaustion. In addition, wife Mary Ella has picked up the “bug” which has been going around and she is continuing to care for him while trying to “nurse” herself and avoid giving the bug to John. I am sure you get the picture. Please join me in what James (Chap. 5)calls effectual fervent prayer for both of them.

Great news this week was that friend Ray who went in to have a spot on his lung checked found that it has disappeared! Also Anne in Alabama got a favorable report from tests to check the source of some discomfort. I am reminded how easy it is to forget to thank the Lord and take His goodness for granted…Thank YOU Lord!

We are two weeks into a training session for new missionary candidates that plan to go to various locations around the world. Each morning when we meet together to pray for those serving around the globe, we take time to hear testimonies of a couple of the candidates and it is always thrilling to hear how our God is working in so many different ways in multitudes of lives. One of our candidates told about being on a short-term trip overseas, working in the pediatrics area of a hospital, and after a difficult time of adjustment ministering to extremely sick children, had…“developed a peace about death.” That thought has continued to come to my mind. How difficult it must be to see little ones dying of HIV/AIDS and maladies that they had no control of acquiring.

I had to ask myself…Have I complete peace about death? I felt that my rating was quite good until one of our internal publications came across my desk about an hour later. In it was a listing of six or seven of our members that have passed away since the last edition. After glancing at the names, I found myself noticing that the ages of every individual but one was over 85 years old, and thinking about Carol I asked…”Why so soon?” Oops…My “peace rating” is not as high as I thought.

This week by “coincidence” the topics in Indeed have been about God’s unlimited wisdom, power, love and grace. So how can I even begin to ask Him why? I can’t say that I like it, but I think that I do “get it” a bit better. I am so human and He is so God! As the author observed, when “applying our finite experience to an infinite being, the result is a distorted view.”

Thank you Lord that we are here by your plan and will depart according to your plan as we are obedient to You. What a privilege it is to be your child and to have the ability to experience your unlimited wisdom, power, love and grace on this earth and look forward to an eternity with you!

Love to you all,

Chuck