It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and while a lot of people are on the road going to see family, I am on my way to a funeral. It’s for one of the finest, faith-filled men I ever knew, a man in his early 40s that leaves behind six children and a stunned wife. He had a body-builder’s physique but all his life he battled heart issues related to congenital defects, and all his life he overcame miraculous odds to join his family and us in church. It was amazing how often he beat the odds - until yesterday, a day no one expected.
You wonder why so many people die this time of year – the holidays, when we all gather on Thanksgiving to celebrate and be grateful for all we have and on Christmas to honor the source of every good thing, our Father in heaven, who gave his Son for us. Why doesn’t God take loved ones home some other time of year? Why now, when we are focused on celebration?
Maybe it’s for that very reason – so that when we celebrate, we remember and celebrate what is important – to celebrate life and lives, to remember those who touched us in unforgettable ways. To be grateful. To celebrate and remember the Giver of Life. To remember again what is truly important and who it is that deserves our attention and our energies – the One to whom we owe life itself and the precious ones He has given us to nurture.
This is a time for family.
Families are made by those who love them, who sacrifice for them, who put little ones first and who honor their spouses and parents. We honor parents, not because they were perfect but because they sacrificed. We honor spouses because no marriage can thrive without honor, sacrifice and time invested. We put little ones first because that is where the future is, and because God naturally puts love in a parent’s heart for those with little legs and upturned faces. They need us and depend on us. They remember when we give them the attention, the encouragement and the one-on-one time that bonds their big little hearts to ours.
We all tend to pour energy into many things of such little real, lasting value. Many of us have spent significant time away from family this fall. Now is the time to give ourselves away to those that look to us.
Take time to make your loved ones feel special, because they are. When all the money and trophies are counted up, they won’t amount to anything next to relationships with those that love us and need us. Invest in the future. And, remember the past – remember those who sacrificed for us and those whose example we admired. And say a prayer for those whose memories are fresh enough to cause pain and heartache. It’s that time of year.
You wonder why so many people die this time of year – the holidays, when we all gather on Thanksgiving to celebrate and be grateful for all we have and on Christmas to honor the source of every good thing, our Father in heaven, who gave his Son for us. Why doesn’t God take loved ones home some other time of year? Why now, when we are focused on celebration?
Maybe it’s for that very reason – so that when we celebrate, we remember and celebrate what is important – to celebrate life and lives, to remember those who touched us in unforgettable ways. To be grateful. To celebrate and remember the Giver of Life. To remember again what is truly important and who it is that deserves our attention and our energies – the One to whom we owe life itself and the precious ones He has given us to nurture.
This is a time for family.
Families are made by those who love them, who sacrifice for them, who put little ones first and who honor their spouses and parents. We honor parents, not because they were perfect but because they sacrificed. We honor spouses because no marriage can thrive without honor, sacrifice and time invested. We put little ones first because that is where the future is, and because God naturally puts love in a parent’s heart for those with little legs and upturned faces. They need us and depend on us. They remember when we give them the attention, the encouragement and the one-on-one time that bonds their big little hearts to ours.
We all tend to pour energy into many things of such little real, lasting value. Many of us have spent significant time away from family this fall. Now is the time to give ourselves away to those that look to us.
Take time to make your loved ones feel special, because they are. When all the money and trophies are counted up, they won’t amount to anything next to relationships with those that love us and need us. Invest in the future. And, remember the past – remember those who sacrificed for us and those whose example we admired. And say a prayer for those whose memories are fresh enough to cause pain and heartache. It’s that time of year.
