Three Days and God's Grace

I believe this past weekend will end up being a defining moment in many people's lives. I know it was in mine. I have been profoudly affected by Bob's life....and by Tresa's faith, love and strength. And I know that God is the One to be praised for those things. Bob's life was celebrated even as all of our hearts were broken by his loss and the loss for Tresa and their children. Bob's and Tresa's family anf friends, our church family and Bob's FBI family joined together to give praise and glory to God, who worked mightily in Bob's life--as He wants to do in all of our lives. That is what Bob wanted. I will never forget Bob's life or his funeral for the rest of my life.

God and I had an experience together this weekend....I have been dealing with many things...and in the three days I spent with God in prayer, in study and in praise, God put me in a place of peace and confidence in His love and in His willingness to work in me and in my family. He is taking my burdens from Me, and I want to thank Him and praise Him for that.

Also, I'm still in awe at the demonstrations of God's love in the entire weekend. Darla Robinson came home from her mother's funeral and immediately gave herself in service in Bob's funeral. She is God's servant. Lisa Girourard gave herself in every aspect of planning and serving during the entire process of preparing for Bob's funeral. Cindy Jeter, Teresa McCain, Lynn Belknap,Ellyn Sergio,Lisa Bosley, Bruce Black, Angelia Hennesey and others gave endlessly and tirelessly to make everything happen--when they were exhausted, hurting emotionally and sick (in Bruce's case) and in extreme pain (in Lisa's case). People traveled from all over the world to be here. Bruce Chadwick used the "gift" of his progressive and physically debilitating illness to minister to our brother, who had to face his own physical debilitation unexpectedly. Bruce knows what it is like to want to run and be active but instead have to be helpless when your body goes through a sudden decline. Only Bruce could befriend Bob in that way. I am in awe. This love does not happen outside of Christ. I am in awe of my Heavenly Father and His love for us--that He loved us so much that He gave His only Son--so that we might not perish but have everlasting life....as Bruce spoke about Sunday. I was sitting with my dear family--with two missing, one because he was at his own church with his fiance and one because he didn't want to be there--and I was surrounded by the love of my family and the love of God and the love of my church, knowing that my Heavenly Father, the Creator of everything, loved all of us so much that He gave His ONLY Son...so that we could be with Him forever. How could I ever ask for more?