I am free to run... I am free to dance... I am free to live for you... I am free...

Does death bother you?  I have to admit – it’s extremely difficult for me to think about.  The loss of someone close to me would be unbearably painful.  A few years ago, a friend of mine lost his wife to cancer and I remember wondering how he was managing to even breath, much less taking care of the “life” that was continuing to go on around him.

A week ago I was eating lunch at Chick-fil-A when my wife called.  A guy that I cared a lot about had died in his sleep the night before due to complications with diabetes.  Adam was 29. 

I thought of Adam as a younger brother.  When I met him four years ago, he was a few years out of college, recently married, and beginning his life.  We both played acoustic guitar for the praise team at church which meant my kids got to know him as well.  And he was great with them, always joking around, making them laugh, even giving my 10 year old a ride on his motorcycle one night in the church parking lot after practice.  Adam was like that.  Always thinking of and serving others.  He was wired that way.  My family went to his graduation ceremony when he became a police officer and I remember the look of awe that my kids had for him in his new uniform with all the “cool” things that a police officer carries. 

So this past week has been hard.  I've been thinking about Adam a lot.  And death.  And how emotionally difficult it is when we lose someone we care about.  I'm not one that can put a smile on and say that they're in a better place.  I grieve over them and miss them.  It hurts.  And I immediately think of all the things I wish I’d done to get to know Adam even better.  I could have spent a few more mornings over coffee talking with him about life. 

What becomes glaringly obvious to me is that life is about relationships.  It’s not about having more money or a better business or saying you have a lot of friends.  It’s about our relationship with the people in our lives.  It’s about being real with others.  It’s about me being a servant to my wife and kids.  It’s about me helping my friends when life becomes hard.  It’s about me taking the time to listen when other people need to talk.  It’s about sharing my faith with those around me who need to hear about a life in Christ.  It’s about me thinking more about our eternal destiny then about life today.  It’s about me giving and giving and giving and giving, not taking. 

You hear people say that you “can’t take it with you to Heaven.”  That “you come into the world with nothing and that you leave with nothing.”  They’re wrong.  You can take your family and you can take your friends if you make the time in this life building relationships with them and sharing Christ with them and being real with them.

So it's with these thoughts that I say "goodbye" Adam.  Thank you for all you did and for showing us these things with the way you lived your life.  I'll always remember your heart for others.  And that friendly smile.  You will be missed.