Who Will Be At Your Funeral?

Dennis and I had the privilege of attending a funeral service today for a friend who went to Fountain of Life Church and had a ministry out in Buena Vista.  Dale Loy was a little older than Dennis and I, and left behind a very nice wife and four red-headed children.  He passed away suddenly from what must have been a massive heart attack.  (Not totally sure that heart-attack was the final word or not.)

Dale spent a great deal of time out in Buena Vista because he loved the kids and wanted to provide a place that was safe for them to spend their Saturday and Wednesday evenings.  He had a sort-of church service for them and then some activities to keep them off the streets as much as he could.

Many of the kids at the school wanted to go to the funeral today, so we helped some friends arrange for that to happen.  We ended up taking a small bus load of about 35 students and 10 more older kids over to the service in Spanish Lookout.  We decided to take only the older kids because of space.  There could have easily been 60 going instead of just 35.  They were so well behaved and we were very proud of them.

As we walked toward the front door of the church Dales wife came out and hugged my neck and then she just cried when she saw all the kids from Buena Vista.  She told them how much it meant for them to be there and how much Dale loved them all.

Dale and Mira, she interpreted for him.

On this Saturday night these kids had fun, were safe, and heard
about Jesus.

Dale having fun with the kids.

As we sat in the service I wondered who would be at my funeral.  And as I was thinking about it I thought this was a very good question.  What if everyone asked themselves, "Who will be at my funeral?"  Who are the people whom you have shared your life with?  Our lives on this earth are very finite and the time we have is overwhelmingly short.  If everyone could make it to your funeral who you touched in this life would it be a crowded place or maybe not.  The point to walk-away with is, your life is meant to be shared with others.   The love that you possess has always been meant to be shared with the people that you see every day of your life.  God puts us together for this very reason.  We really are our brothers keeper, God gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to love those within our grasp, even those who aren't exactly lovable.  What a better place the world would be if we (especially Christians) would step out of our comfort zones and start to love how we are meant to.  Dale was a person who did just that.  Thank you Dale for your example and Thank you God for Dale!!  He must be having the best time ever right now!

1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three things remain, faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  The world needs to "know we are Christians by our love."  That's a worship song from a while back.  Good words to consider.

Love you guys!