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...Present with the Lord. Absent from the body; Present with the Lord. Absent from the body; Present with the Lord. I only learned that a few years ago. It is comforting to me. A year ago January our church lost a young elder in a car accident. After making pancakes for his wife and three young daughters, he left them to head up north to officiate a basketball game, and never came back to their home.
Absent from the body; Present with the Lord.
Today I got a call about a friend I had been in co-op with when I first started homeschooling. She had long, wavy, black hair and the sweetest, tiny little voice. She was gentle and quiet--things I always wanted to be. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which I believe her mother had died of, she insisted on continuing as our co-op treasurer because she wanted to keep up with her responsibilities. She was dear. One of the first parent meetings I attended, we laid hands on her and prayed for wisdom for her and her husband over what treatment options they should choose. She endured them all. She got well and it came back. She did some more and it came back. It won her body. It lost her soul!
Absent from the body; Present with the Lord.
I read the obits almost every day. Usually I just read the ones that have pictures. Probably because I am a visual learner. Our paper only started allowing personally- written obits in the past year or so. It is enjoyable to read the details of people's lives written by people who knew them, not by anonymous interns taking factoids from a form. I always think about how everybody has an interesting story--everyone! So many are lost because no one takes the time to write them down.
I wonder what my kids will write about me? What makes me special to them? Probably not the way I call them back to the table to pick up their plates. Probably not how I sigh and snort about all the junk in the car.
My friend had some warning about her time here. I have been gone from her circle for several years, so I don't know any details about how she spent her recent time. I have another friend who knows a child who has no treatment options left so they have swum with dolphins in the Bahamas (thanks to a generous benefactor); they have taken hot air balloon rides and had portraits taken and this weekend they are hosting a dance, because each day is a precious gift. They are living like there's no tomorrow because there may not be.
Absent from the body; Present with the Lord.
What will fill my day tomorrow? What emotional nutrition will I load my kids with? What will they remember about my voice and my face and the feel of my hands?
I have heard it and heard it and heard it again and it is true. In the end, the only thing that matters is people and God.
My friend is absent from the body; She is present with the Lord.
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