A Year Later

A year ago today we said "Good-bye for now" to one of our four children.  On that day, we celebrated heaven, anticipated missing our son and found great consolation from the Lord, the Bible and the church.  A year later we have seen enormous amounts of mail and been the subject of many prayers and found that comfort from the Bible, the Lord and His church.  Instead of anticipating missing Mitch, we find ourselves regularly missing Mitch.  But, we celebrate heaven.  Contrary to popular belief, but in line with all indication from Scripture, most people will not be there.  His children will.  The faithful, recipients of grace, those who have been made new, will be once again subjects of an "Extreme Body Makeover" standing before the throne for an eternity.  Mitch is certainly one of them. 

So, we celebrate heaven.  We celebrate life in Jesus' Name.  We enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  We enjoy the comfort from the love of God.  We are filled with gratitude and joy from the giver of life.  I was thinking the other day how odd it was, when we came to what would have been Mitch's 29th birthday.  My thought centered on how ironic it is that Mitch will never see 29 years, but has traded that experience in for experiencing the fullness of time and eternity that we have not yet seen or experienced.  What a great trade off. 

I want to once again thank the church for praying and supporting.  I also want to challenge everyone within ear shot of this blog to live in such a way so as to prepare for eternity and lead others in that same preparation.  Confess, forgive, worship, love, fellowship, pray and live like there is no tomorrow.  Better yet, confess, forgive, worship, love, fellowship, pray and live like tomorrow depended on it. 

Comments

[Russ Baley]

Matt,
Thanks for your thoughts and how Mitch's home-going has profoundly changed you. Thanks for modeling a brokenness that can only come from years of life. You are a blessed brother in Christ and I am proud to call you friend and am excited for what God has for us all in the future of the church.

Thanks also for a great couple of days at Starting Strong. See you in June at Oregon Conference if not sooner!

In His Gracious Grip,

Russ

[Brenda]

Bishop Thomas: I fully intended to
let you know... I did remember when it was early and then did not
check the blog until 6 days have
flown! Time flies! God bless all of you and the life of your son with the Son!