Skip to main content

Lessons From a Funeral

My wife's grandma passed last week. She was 95, had faith in Jesus and was ready to go home. Here are some of the highlights. 

Family is very important.

I mean this from a Christian point of view as well as a physical factor. Having someone to hug, someone to reminisce with and someone to understand what you're going through is vital to the healing process. This particular week meant not having my wife around for a few days, while funeral preparations were made. While I may someday declare my heroics of taking care of the kids as a single dad, I'll admit that 1-course meals and outfits which may or may not match is nothing compared to the emotional strength my wife provided and offered to her family. 

Taking a timeout from regular life, both to celebrate the life of a loved family member and also to consider our own mortality is only made richer when the words, embraces and casseroles of our Christian brothers and sisters surround us. 

Considering what it's like "for those who have no hope" in the face of death only instills in me a hunger to make sure no one is without. 

There were so many teachable moments for our children. 

My kids are still young. While this was not the first time they had heard of death, this was the first service they went to, the first viewing they experienced and the first time they got to contemplate the sequence of events; from "great grandma is sick" to "great grandma may not make it" to "I have to tell you something."

We talked about the purpose of a viewing, to why we put our bodies in a box. All the while, we kept reminding our kids about the truth of Scripture, that "we don't mourn like those who have no hope." We kept assuring them that God did answer their prayers to relieve great grandma of any pain. We rejoiced that we would someday be reunited with her in Heaven. 

Any trip or event with children is bound to provide laughter, if you keep your eyes open. 

I explained that funerals are celebrations much like a wedding. My kids, apparently paying attention, noted that a wedding means cake and a funeral mean pie. Well, they aren't wrong about that! 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more