I went home yesterday to attend a memorial service for a very special friend. I decided to drive around my hometown and see if I could find homes that I had lived in from my first memory. The beloved place of my birth. I was able to find them beginning with my first recollection at five years of age. I pulled up across the street and tried to recall the events I could remember, that took place there. The home where I lived when I broke my collarbone. The place I engraved a permanent scar across my eyebrow from rocking into a glass, china cabinet door. That horrific moment I caught my arm in the wringer of the washing machine. The place where I posed for a photo sitting on my father’s lap on the front steps.
It is good to go back. To revisit the past. One thing I found interesting was that our homes were very small. As a child things seem larger because we are smaller. In our memories they were mansions. As I sat across from each of them, my thought was it was impossible to imagine a family of five living in such a small space.
It is good to look back over the events of our past. It is a bit encouraging to revisit what we survived. Like my former homes, some of my life events seemed to be so huge at the time and take far too much of my spirit as I made my way through them. The nights wondering if we could make it through this. Will the tears end? Will the fears subside? Will our body heal? Will I ever be able to breathe again? Will the sadness move and allow joy and peace back in?
Like the homes from my past, some events seemed way too big to manage. Only in thinking back did I realize, compared to other more recent events, they were quite small. They were survivable. Healing came. With each storm, came strengthened courage and resolve to keep moving forward. Preparation for the really hard and difficult things that come as we age.
Surviving life events isn’t an accident. It is the grace of a merciful God that girds us up to face the winds of the storms of life. He was there before we ever knew Him personally. He was there to bring us to this day. We are here to fulfill God’s purpose. What is that purpose?
That brings me back to the reason I went home yesterday. The man that we all lovingly called Doc Al, our veterinarian, a stranger to no one. Friend to so many. This bigger than life man with a gentle spirit and a kind heart, was a man with a purpose. He spoke about the things of God with authority and love and the same grace he had been given by his Savior. For eighty-three years he nurtured his family, the places he lived, the animals entrusted to his care and the people he came in contact with. Quick wit and humor laced with a desire that all should come to the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. A man who I would venture to say, never missed an opportunity to invite you to meet the Jesus He knew. He didn’t have to say much. His life and the way he treated not only the humanity he met but the animals he lovingly cared for, left you knowing that this man, knew Jesus. He wanted you to know Him to.
For all who knew him, he leaves big shoes to fill. A desire to leave those we encounter better than they were when we first met them. To love enough, to say the things that might be hard not only to say, but to hear. To leave words of wisdom laced with a tremendous sense of humor. To find God’s favor and blessing in every minute of every day, no matter what that day may hold for us. Rest in peace Doc Al. Thank you for spending time with each of us along your life’s way. Those moments, however few or many, left unforgettable marks on our souls and our hearts. The engraving of goodness, love, kindness and a smile at the very mention of your name.
~Scripture For Today~
Psalm 1:3
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (KJV)
~Prayer For Today~
Hello Father! Thank you for those you send through our lives. The unforgettable angels unaware who minister to us with their love, their wisdom and their consuming love of Christ. We pray for comfort for the sudden voids in the lives of the families who loved them. We pray that we use our time here wisely, never wasting an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. Forgive us of our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen.