Good morning…

“Telling my boys that their mom had gone to heaven Sunday was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in this life,” wrote Chad on Julie’s Caring Bridge page yesterday, “but they, like me, cling to the peace and comfort that they will see their mom again and get to be reunited with her in heaven. Charlie, who is almost 11, spoke to me through tears last night as he went to bed, and gave me an amazing gift. He said, ‘Dad, it’s basically like this. Mom lost the battle, but she won the war. Dad, when you think about it, we all lose the battle at some point, and we all win the war when we go to heaven.’ His words struck me deeply, and I marvel at his ability to create such a powerful and timely analogy.”

“Our family has been so touched by the outpouring of kindness and support from so many, and it is an amazing tribute to my sweet wife…and below, I wanted to share an email I received yesterday from our friend Rosemary Porter that touched me deeply. Rosemary wrote: I am so thankful that I was able to have known Julie for just the small amount of time that I was blessed in her presence. God’s light shined through every inch of her body. She makes me want to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister, a better friend, and especially a better follower of Christ.”

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

“I pray that you will find peace and comfort knowing that your beautiful Julie is with her God, our God, beaming in His light and glory and will always be watching over you guiding you from above.

Mary Frye poem:
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the star shine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I did not die.”

I feel Julie living on in Chad’s words and young Charlie’s wisdom, Rosemary’s tribute and Mary Frye’s poem. As we fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal, we feel Julie living on.

…Sue…