On the far side of the ocean...: No one dies early

Two weeks ago we had the funeral for our friend who died when the plane he was piloting went down in the mountains. Really, really hard days. There are no funeral homes here; no events coordinators; not even a pastor at the missionary community church we attend. Thus, the task of arranging the countless details of everything from preparing the body and having a casket built to renting chairs for the memorial service fell to his grieving friends and co-workers. Because most of the pilots and higher ups in the aviation missions were busy with government investigations and insurance paperwork and all the stickiness with Embassies that comes when an American dies overseas, the details of setting up 800 chairs and arranging the obligatory funeral meal for 1200 fell to people like Brant. Needless to say, by the end, we were totally exhausted, mentally and physically.

The funeral itself was amazing and it's kinda hard to put into words. It was not joyful or a great tribute to his life and no one laughed. There were lots and lots of tears, but it was full of hope. Hope so real and tangible it enveloped the auditorium. Hope in God's goodness and His sovereignty over every detail over our lives - including clouds and mountain peaks and plane engines that stall and take a friend's life. The funeral was not a chance to remember a friend as much as it was to remind us, the living and crying, that God is good and He is in control. We say that often as Christians. Here, we either live it or we give up and go home. We cannot say it and not fully commit our lives to the Truth. So to live in God's sovereignty is to not question His decisions, but to accept them and then to ask His help to bear the pain that sometimes comes when His plans are not our plans. Sharing that with hundreds of other missionaries was amazing and when we sang "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" our friend on the other side of town watching the boys said she could hear us and got goose-bumps.

While our friend was sharing during the sermon, he said "No one dies early." Maybe I've been in the dark all my life, but that was a new concept to me. Me, the American who has been taught that good eating habits, enough exercise and proper health care keeps you alive longer. I know I thought that this summer when Penny died - that her death was wrong and a direct result of her poverty and citizenship in a 3rd world country. I thought Paul's death was due to an error, bad weather, you name it....

Wrong.

We all die. God has given us a day to be born (and I had a great day celebrating mine this past weekend!) and a day to die. There are no accidents, tragedies or mistakes and *oops* someone dies. God ordains the number of days we each have and when they're up, they're up. He might choose to use some horrific circumstances to take us out of this world, but in reality, the circumstances didn't end our lives - He did.

Very powerful stuff for me. God will end my life (and the lives of those I love) when it's time. My job is to accept His timing as perfect and to trust His goodness, even when I hurt. And my job is to enjoy each day I have with my family and friends, knowing they are gifts from God and knowing that He doesn't give us tomorrow, only today.

After the funeral and all the whirlwind of preparations, we just took a few days to rest and recover and process... and to enjoy the little boys and the life we have today.

We built forts....

We did school.... these are Caleb's Doggie ears (for D day!) He wore them NON-stop for 3 days, taking them off only for showers and to sleep. :) It was a nice comic relief for everyone here in town (because, yes, he wore them whenever he left the house!) :):)