Death is never easy.

There is a lady in our church who has been very ill and we have been expecting her to go meet our Heavenly Father for months now... well, yesterday was the day. She took her last breaths around 5 a.m. We do not know her or her husband very well, but John is their Lay Minister (elder) at church, he calls them and several other families every month to check in on them. He has made a couple of stops in to see her this summer and even one time, knowing that John has a beautiful voice, she asked him to sing What A Friend We Have In Jesus. He has never really lost anyone close to him. Of course his grandparents, but he was so young or not even born yet when they died, he has known people who have died, but he feels this sense of responsibility to them since they were on his call list. He had plans to go visit the family tonight. He hadn't acted like he wanted me to go so I didn't plan on it. As he was walking out the door he asked me to go with him. So we gave the kids explicit instructions on safety in the house and said we'd be back within 30 minutes, they live 2 minutes away from us. He asked me what he should say, he was so nervous. I lost my sister 20 years ago and deal daily with her death. I just told him to be himself, don't think about what he should say, search his heart for the words (in simple terms, don't be formal). We sat with him for about 20 minutes and John just sat there chiming in a little bit, but I asked about his children, about her last couple of days, about the few minutes before her death, the funeral and burial service and as we were walking out he said that Sunday would have been their 59th wedding anniversary... with John on one side and I on the other we hugged him and he just layed his head in towards our shoulders (kinda like a group hug) and he cried. He cried about how they came and took away all the medical equipment today. He looked so exhausted, I pray he gets some sleep these next couple of days. We got in the car and John said he was so glad I came along with him, that everything I did was perfect. That was a nice compliment coming from him in a situation that is so difficult. We were a little worried that since we are not real close to them that he would be polite to us for our sake and that we would feel like we were intruding, but it didn't feel that way at all.

When I was sitting and listening to him talk about his wife I couldn't help but think about what it was like as she was finally having the great honor of meeting Jesus. For my whole life I thought about death and what it does to the people who are left behind, not giving a lot of thought to the one who goes to Heaven. But in my studies and my prayers I have learned to not be afraid of death. Of course there is pain and you are never ready to say good-bye, even when it is so expected. But the joy of Heaven crosses my mind now. My prayers now are for this sweet little man who has been married to this woman for longer than I have been alive... by a long shot. I hope he finds peace in his memories with his wife and that his love for the Lord helps him through this week.