Monday, February 05, 2007

life

I have had an interesting last week or so. Very thought-provoking things going on.
Went to a funeral last week. But not just any funeral… the funeral of a man who many will always hold high and remember with great esteem. I did not know him very well… but I’d had the privilege of meeting him and being around him a few times. You know how sometimes people talk other people up so much… that they make them seem like heroes? Well, little did I know how true things were in this particular case. I thought saints of this nature were only in biblical times… or in movie scripts… or stories… or fairy tales.

But no… what this man did with his spare time and his money... what he did quietly… I truly believe all of creation will know about one day. He literally went to several SEVERAL other countries… spreading the gospel.
The scripture verse that the officiating minister read was this:

Then the king said to his men,
"Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day?"
2 Samuel 3:38


And to think… many people have the exact same opportunities… same resources that this man had… and to hear what he did with his life and his time… made me want to be a better person. Even in his death, he inspired us to be better followers of Christ. Amazing… he was a prince for sure.

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you…
1 Peter 1:4

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Have you ever read the words of martyrs… ever read any of their historical last words? Or have you ever read any historical account of someone who died for what they believed? If you haven’t, you should… trust me…

I feel sorry for people that don’t have some sort of passion in their lives. I’ve been reminded of what life looks like without it… and what life can look like with it. I guess the trick of it all is to live out your passion for the right reason…

For those of you who have been crazy enough to have been reading this blog of mine for a few years, you may remember when I was reading Perpetua
if you want to stroll down my memory lane… feel free to read what I wrote back then about the story and the passion.

I was at my parents’ home on Sunday afternoon and I went through some of the stuff in my old room… I was looking for something I’d written when I was 13. I found it. i knew I’d find it. But I didn’t know how much more I’d find along with it. There was a journal from my senior year in high school that my AP English teacher had required us to keep… she would give us topics to write on… and so… I was reading in it… and it was a very surreal experience to think about how much my life has been molded… and slowly shaped. I hope you've kept a journal that you accidentally find 10 years later. Maybe you should give yourself a topic every day for 5 months… or 8 months… or a whole year… and then hide it away… and then it’ll be like Christmas when you accidentally bump into it again…

oh, and among the many books I'm attempting to read right now... is one about vision. It's called Chazown. I'm thinking you just might enjoy it... i have a feeling that many of my entries to come might be from thoughts i'm having thanks to this book.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being bi-vocational but with both fields of vocation dealing with death and dying on a regular basis I can tell you it is absolutely refreshing to come to the end of a life well lived. Saw a bumper sticker one day that stuck with me, "Live so that the preacher doesn't have to lie at your funeral." Truly if you want to be remembered favorably in your death you have to do something in your life. How wonderful at the end of your life to have your life itself speak so eloquently that it over reaches death itself. Jim was such a man and that he inspires so many still in the land of living to be "all they can be" is truly a testament to the life he lived out among us. Good blog, Lambie!

Anonymous said...

kristin, if you dont mind me asking, who passed away?

this is steph's dad.

kristin said...

hey steph's dad!
thx 4 stopping by.
Jim Kerby is the gentleman I'm referring to who passed away. He was one of the cofounders of the company i work for... but he was much more than that... that was only a small, small part of his very amazing life. see http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070130_Ne_A13_Adage65480
for his obituarary.
Hope you are well!

Anonymous said...

yeah, things are always- well??....??

nice to see you guys are finally having some ok weather. compared to us, you got it made for this winter, we are not done yet, highs of like- zee ro

Anonymous said...

your blog really touched my heart, very sweet- and of course, 'insightful' as always!