Life and Death

I am the kind of user that facebook probably hates.  I log on, check my messages, scan through the posts for anything life changing and log off.   There are days I have probably logged on for the grand total of 2 minutes and 53 seconds.  I can only take so much screen time.  I am more of your real life, face to face, read it in a book kind of person. 

Yesterday was different.  The kids were happily playing outside and I was having some quiet moments, twenty-two of them in fact.  So I followed my sister-in-law's link to a utube of a teenage boy who just died of cancer and what he did in his last days. 

It was tear jerking listening to him and his family talk about his life.  The biggest tear jerker for me was hearing him talk about death at the end.

 "...yeah, it's scary, but the only reason it's scary is because you don't know what's next or if there is a next, so it's kind of like sitting in the dark, so you can either choose to be freaking out in the dark and thinking, 'okay, what's out there?', or you can just relax and fall asleep."

While he was talking about death, a pop up came up saying he passed away on May 20, 2013.  Flavia turned three on May 20, 2013. 

While we were celebrating one more year in our sweet baby girl's life, he was staring death in the hard, cold face.  Death for him was hopeless. peaceless. joyless.  The thing is, I do know there is a next and I know what that next is. 

On the utube, one of the producers makes the comment that he didn't know he would have his life changed by a 17 year old boy.  If someone who does not know Jesus as their personal Saviour can change someone's life for the better, how much more should my life and your life, who do know Jesus as our personal Saviour be changing other's lives for the better?!?!

In this last year, within one week, my paternal grandmother and BJ's maternal grandfather passed into eternity.  While there was sadness at their going, there was greater joy in knowing that we will reunite one day with them because of the common bond we share in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Death is not scary for me because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is ABLE to conquer death and sin in my life.

My silent prayer in the last twenty-four hours has been, "O Lord, help me to be bold with the message of hope and peace and joy that your Gospel brings."