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We Have This Day

 


A friend noticed Cowboy Church off of Dry Creek Road in West Sedona yesterday morning as he drove past and told me the parking lot was bulging with cars from everywhere.  "Something big was going on!  He said."

"Yes I replied; I was there and I want to tell you all about what happened."

I glanced over the highly attended sanctuary as the first speaker approached to speak.  He introduced himself as a pastor from the state of Washington but he was also my bestie's nephew.  His engaging  eulogy of the life of his cousin, Ashley, gripped me.  He helped all of us understand and trust God when we want to scream "She was so young.  What about her widower husband now who loved her with all his heart?  What about their two-year old boy who misses his mommy?" 

There are days we just don't understand God's ways.  But I am at peace to know Ashley is finally pain free and lives in Paradise.

I glanced at her mom, Maureen, my best friend now for over 20 years.  She looked stoic while I was on my third tissue especially when Ashley's BBF spoke of their friendship and wondered how she will live without her.

Maureen looks thin.  When I hugged her, I could feel her tiny bones within her small frame.  She battles cancer also and the side effects are horrific.  How does she face each day especially now that her 37 year-old firstborn passed to heaven?  I can't imagine the pain and I feel helpless.

The last speaker, Ashley's sister, told funny stories from their youth. She left us on a sobering note.

"Don't wait until a lethal diagnosis hits your family member to patch things up with them.  Make that phone call.  Send that text.  Repair relationships at all costs.  We are given this day and it is a present."

The thing about these Celebrations of Life is they point us to the truth that we are mere mortals.  We're born here to develop our body, our soul and our spirit.  The blessing is to know God, to know our purpose and to know where we go when we leave this galaxy. 

I leave you with this Scripture featured on Ashley's memorial handout:





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