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What Matters The Most

6/4/2013

4 Comments

 
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My parents are on their way to Tennessee today to grieve with the wife and family of one of the kindest men I have had the pleasure of knowing. 

After a few years of Leukemia, Don (an old family friend) was finally called home to be where he wanted to be the most.  He was ready.

He was the type of guy who I never knew if he was serious or if he was joking.  He'd joke so often that on occasions when he'd say something serious, there were awkward moments because I inappropriately laughed at him. But he would just keep going until I realized he was serious.  He was a man whose gift was to bring joy to the people around him.  Even in his suffering, he had a smile on his face and made sure that others did as well.

As I sit here this morning, I hear Micah cooing in the other room, Quinton outside beating the ground with a stick, my brother in his bedroom listening to his music and my other brother playing with the dog.  When I get on Facebook I see friends and family posting things about their day to day lives, sending goofy messages, and just sharing things just for the sake of sharing.  So many lives all woven together in different ways but yet we all are looking for the same things:  Love, peace, and happiness.

And while I am sad when I think about the fact that Don won't be at our family Thanksgiving dinners anymore or he won't ever sneak up behind me again and scare me by making a weird noise in my ear, I am also happy because I realize that for him, death was just the beginning of the life that we are all looking for but can't fully obtain while we are still on this earth.  His joy, love, and peace are full and complete.  He wouldn't want to be back here with us if he could.  That knowledge makes me happy.

Today I realize that what matters most in this world is not being the richest or the best looking or the smartest or even the healthiest.  The most important thing is being the type of person, like Don, who will remind people of things that are of God:  things like love, loyalty, peace, joy, righteousness, and kindness just to name a few.

So as I am sure this week will bring many moments of sadness because the world is short one of God's most beloved servants, I am thankful that Don has given me this reminder today.

"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don't look at the troubles we can  see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

4 Comments
Diana
6/4/2013 03:33:13 am

Thank you, well done. He will be missed, Don was a very special man.

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Carissa link
6/4/2013 03:53:44 am

He was super special and you'd find that out quickly if you knew him even a little bit, like me. So glad for him and his new home.

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Cheryl
6/4/2013 07:01:09 am

I was thinking of some of those funny things that he did also. Russell Stover's candy showing up in my kids hands because Don Don couldn't resist buying them some. Trips to Gatlinburg were always so much fun. His Saturday rummage sale trips. Just those unexpected phone calls to check in. I was thinking the same thing when I got on Facebook that everyone else is posting about what they are doing or kids and I'm just wondering how Evelyn is doing. He is in a far better place and I hope we all see him again one day!

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Evelyn
6/11/2013 12:59:49 pm

He did get there, he lost 75 pounds overnight, he beat me..he could no longer walk this journey here, again he beat me. I am not doing alone and lonely at all well, but I am truly so happy for him never ever to have one more pain to fight. It was always my prayer to our Father, please heal him from head to toe..and I would list every single problem in his whole body and the leukemia. He really earned his medal for suffering. But it never let him stop going out to the poor, the needy, those in grief, he mowed old ladies' lawns, cleaned gutters, you name it. Picked his veggies, dropped sacks of them on neighbors doorknobs..one time a lady who used to slip in the back of the church at the end begging money, her sister called us a few months ago..we cleaned out the freezers and took it all to her. God never stops keeping providing more as we emptied out our stores. He so enjoyed caring for others. He never went out and did anything because it was a rule a religion had made. The Holy Spirit prompted and Donald listened to his heart.

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