Blessings

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Last weekend we had a house full of Penn State former and current students. They stayed the weekend at our home to say goodbye to their friend, Jessie, as they celebrated her life at her funeral. What a beautiful weekend. Tears amid laughter. Joy mingled with sorrow. Life mingled with death followed up by eternal life. The circle continues. As I was talking to one of the young women at our home; she reflected that they all needed the time to fellowship together and that the time after the funeral was so important for their hearts. They needed to remember Jessie. They needed to cry. They needed to be angry. They needed to laugh as they told Jessie stories. They needed to love and to be loved.

I got to be mama for the weekend to these precious young men and women. My heart was overflowing. Sean had his friends and his family around. It was good.

We had a party for Jessie since she was already partying in Heaven. We shared in the joy. We said goodbye for now. One day we will all be together celebrating at the foot of God.

How awesome is our God. Have a blessed day. Hugs!

Looking Forward to Heaven?

Looking Forward to Heaven? by Randy ALcorn
With the deaths of several celebrities on the forefront of people's minds, I want to focus this week's question and answer on Heaven. Because the reality is, as human beings, we all have a terminal disease called mortality. The current death rate is 100 percent. Unless Christ returns soon, we’re all going to die. We don’t like to think about death; yet, worldwide, 3 people die every second, 180 every minute, and nearly 11,000 every hour. If the Bible is right about what happens to us after death, it means that more than 250,000 people every day go either to Heaven or Hell.

David said, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:4-5). Picture a single breath escaping your mouth on a cold day and dissipating into the air. Such is the brevity of life here. The wise will consider what awaits us on the other side of this life that so quickly ends.

God uses suffering and impending death to unfasten us from this earth and to set our minds on what lies beyond. I’ve lost people close to me. (Actually, I haven’t lost them, because I know where they are—rather, I’ve lost contact with them.) I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people who’ve been diagnosed with terminal diseases. These people, and their loved ones, have a sudden and insatiable interest in the afterlife. Most people live unprepared for death. But those who are wise will go to a reliable source to investigate what’s on the other side. And if they discover that the choices they make during their brief stay in this world will matter in the world to come, they’ll want to adjust those choices accordingly.

Yet you may be wondering, How can I change my perspective so that I truly look forward to Heaven?

Consider these Scriptures:

Luke 6:21 says, "God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh."

Luke 15:10 says, "There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents."

Nobody wants to leave a good party early. Christians faced with death often feel they’re leaving the party before it’s over. They have to go home early. They’re disappointed, thinking of all they’ll miss when they leave.

But the truth is, the real party is under way at home—precisely where they’re going! They’re not the ones missing the party; those of us left behind are. (Fortunately, if we know Jesus, we’ll get there eventually to join the party.)

One by one, believers will disappear from the world. Those of us who are left behind will grieve that our loved ones have left home. In reality, however, our believing loved ones aren’t leaving home; they’re going home. They’ll be home before us. We’ll be arriving at the party a little later. Laughter and rejoicing—a party awaits us. Don’t you want to join it? (If you aren’t certain you’ll be at the party, check out How Can We Know That We'll Go to Heaven?)
Yet even that party, in the present Heaven, is a preliminary celebration. To be in resurrected bodies on a resurrected Earth in resurrected friendships, enjoying the resurrected culture with the resurrected Jesus—now that will be the ultimate party! We will all be who God made us to be—and none of us will ever suffer or die again. As a Christian, the day I die will be the best day I’ve ever lived. But it won’t be the best day I ever will live. Resurrection day will be far better. And the first day on the New Earth—that will be one big step for mankind, one giant leap for God’s glory.

In Memory of Tom Lampone & Jessie (JB) Brown

This week God took two of his children home. Jessie, 22, died on Wednesday evening in an auto accident. She was a friend of Sean's. They went to a dance together in High School and the pictures are so cute. They are so young in them. Jessie was walking her faith everyday Her friend Ashley wrote this note about her:

The life story of Jessie Brown as testified by my apartment

Jessie was staying in my apartment this summer, and I happened to be on my way to the apartment when I heard the news. I was the first one to see her stuff in my apartment, and what a testimony it was. Next to her bed lay two books: "The Secrets of the Lord" and C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." On her desk lay her prayer journal, a picture of her and her sister, and a picture of her mom. On the kitchen table lay the most recent taping of Calvary's Sunday service, and the entertainment center was covered with worship CD's. The thing that got me the most, was the verse she had written out in script and posted above the sink. It goes like this:

Job 1:21
Job responded: "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised."

Jessie knew what this life was about, and she knew her purpose for being here. This apartment is a testimony of that. She lived her life to the fullest, and knew how to prioritize. She always had time for school, time for God, time for Eric, and time for her friends. We'll miss you, Jess. But your life reflected what God wanted. You accomplished your mission. We love you.

Our dear brother in Christ, Tom, died at 12:15 this morning on his 52nd birthday. Tom has been fighting cancer for years. His legacy will live on with everyone who knew him. His faith was like a shining beacon of hope. He was prepared to meet God but fought the good fight until the end. He told his wife that he wanted to take her to see Italy before he died and he said that at the beginning of this week! He was video taped for one of our services at church this past March. His words were about his faith in God and his desire to do His will. His wife, Patty, has been such a strong partner in his journey. Her courage and strength has been a gift from God. Every time I saw Tom and Patty or communicated with them over email they would always tell me they were praying for me! Even the midst of their fight they would reach out to others. Tom leaves a legacy with his son, Nate, his daughter, Tia, and his grandson, Thomas Michael. Tom, my brother, you will be missed but God welcomed you home by saying "Well done good and faithful servant". Heaven is throwing a party!

Tom & Jessie, we will miss you. We will see you at the party in Heaven in time. We love you!

Mercy & Grace

This past several weeks was an emotional roller coaster because of lots of "stuff" going on in our lives. Getting past the emotions of the day and stopping to hear from God was a challenge. Rick and I were talking on the phone so often that I think AT&T lost money :) I spent some time with my friend, Kathy, who is also my Christian counselor, and she gave me some wise advise. Her comment was: all of the "stuff" going on in our lives was sitting right in front of us at all times. We were on overload. So she suggested that we box everything up and lock them away in a storage unit and only deal with them one at a time as we needed to. Now that seemed rather simplistic at the time she said it; but she was absolutely right. There were things going on that I had no control over and I was reacting to because they were constantly in front of me. I had to give the problem to God, box it up and lock it away until God told me to take it out and deal with it. This was a huge reminder for me. There were several issues that I kept stressing over, giving to God then grabbing them back again. So now there are several things locked away and for now I have given the key away also!! The relief I am feeling is huge.

I also had a time this week that I really needed to share somethings going on and I knew I needed prayer right then. I called Pastor Jeff at our church and asked him to meet ASAP. I have never asked this before and he was amazing. He postponed a meeting to give me time to get there, I left work early and drove to Chippewa. We talked for awhile, he asked questions that helped me to clarify my feelings and then we prayed together. How awesome to know that when we need people in our lives they are there.

Thank you dear friends! More later! Hugs

Marriage

Yesterday was Father's Day and in honor of my husband I would like to share some very special things about him. We have been married for 23 years and we plan on renewing our vows for our 25th wedding anniversary. We did not have a relationship with God when we got married so for our 25th anniversary we wanted to have the opportunity to acknowledge God's role in our marriage. He is my best friend, my confidant, my accountability partner and my life partner.

He is a fantastic father to our children. They have driven him crazy at times as they have grown and tested the waters but he will give up sleep to take the time to talk and he will fly home suddenly when something has come up in their lives.

Rick is such a strong Godly man. He studies God's word to know the steps we need to take as a family and as a couple. He also admits when he is wrong and asks for forgiveness. He comes to me for advice whether it is about his job, his family or a matter at church. He treats other with compassion and love. There have been many times when I find him deep in conversation with someone at church as they are looking for advice or just a listening ear.

When Tonia died he was my rock. We held each other and cried. We supported each other as we had to go to the funeral home and pick out a casket. He held me as we said goodbye at her funeral. For a few months we were having some communication challenges. I have described it as two trains heading in the same direction but at different speeds and on different tracks. We had to learn a new language; a language of grief and frustration. But we worked through the issues and soon we were once again traveling together!

He has changed so much since he accepted God into his heart. He is more laid back and loose. Seeing him with a baseball hat on backwards is still a bit of a shock but it is a part of him. Watching him play ultimate Frisbee or volleyball with all of "our kids" is pure joy.

He tried so hard to be an example to our son. He tries to demonstrate how God wants a man to act toward his wife and to other people. They are so much alike that they butt heads once in a while but I quickly hear Rick's voice coming out of Sean's mouth! Their sense of humor is identical. At times I am laughing more at them then I am at the movie we are all watching.

Rick, Happy Father's Day. You continue to amaze me. I love you!

attacks & storms

Recently I have realized that Satan in trying to isolate us from other believers. I need to surround us with prayers and the fellowship of other believers, immediately! Please keep us in your prayers.

God is so amazing but sometimes I try to solve things by myself. I fail every time! Recently I have been trying to deal with several issues in our lives just by ignoring them, facing them down, talking too much, trying to solve them NOW and holding on to issues that were settled before. God takes care of all of the details in my life but in His time.

On Wednesday night God was very real and very present. I was working my usual twelve hour shift when I realized that it was getting dark and the rain had started. I checked the weather channel and realized we were under thunderstorm and tornado warnings. I checked the radar and saw that the storm was still west of us and made the decision to leave work early so I could get home. I left work at 6:40 pm. I made a really bad decision to go home via Route 65 instead of the highway. I was on 65 for about 10 minutes when the skies opened up. It was raining so hard I had a hard time seeing. Traffic slowed down and hazard lights came on. I hit one puddle after another but it was still okay.

Two cars in front of me was a low riding black car. Suddenly the rain picked up even more and I watched a wave of water come from my right. The black car was caught in the current and swept half way into the oncoming traffic lane before he could stop. The SUV in front of me made the decision to try to get around him by also heading to the left into the oncoming traffic. I was already in the water with a semi behind me. I decided to try to continue straight ahead thinking I would have more traction. The black car had water up to the bottom of his passenger door as I passed him on the right. My check engine light flickered several times before I made it through the water. There was a gas station ahead of me so I pulled over and started crying and shaking. I called Rick on my cell phone and he talked to me until I was able to calm down. 65 northbound was baked up and cars were turning around. later I found out it was closed for a short while due to water and debris. To make a long story short, Rick remembered that a friend lived just east if where I was so I drove to her house so I could get out of the car and the storm while I figured out how to get home. I stayed there for about 40 minutes. I had to head back into Pittsburgh so I could get to Highway 60 and head home. I finally made it home at 11:10 that evening.

So many things could have gone wrong but God was driving my car that night. I don't have the skills to navigate through that much water or to make the decisions that I did. He used Rick and my friend, Nancy, to get me through a very tough situation.

I was so happy to be home!

Step Into The Pain excerpt

Step Into the Pain
by Doug Clark

I was speechless.

In an airport on a trip recently, I listened to a halting voice mail message from a close friend, telling me of another friend's unexpected death. Tony had died very suddenly while working a second job. He was 44 and seemed in the peak of health. He was an athlete and a radiant believer who lived his faith as a basketball coach (his first job) and deeply loved his wife and family.

My heart ached as I considered the plight of his widow, who has been a close friend since 1973 and a part of my church's ministry on many levels. Heidi was left with three daughters. The loss is devastating.

My mind whirled as I sought a quiet place from which to call my friend. I pondered the fact that she is a counselor who can easily recite all the stages of grief. She has comforted many who have faced loss themselves. But this time the agony was hers, not someone else's. When she picked up the phone, I heard the pain and emotion in her voice and realized I had no idea what to say to her.

I mumbled and fumbled around awkwardly, letting her know how much my wife and I loved her. There was not much else that could be said at the moment. I longed to put my arms around her and share her pain, but couldn't do that from 1,000 miles away. I promised to see her when I got home and hung up.

How does someone handle that kind of loss? How do you survive when the bottom drops out?

At the risk of being simplistic, I believe one key that I've seen modeled by people who have weathered deep pain, and emerged better for it, is that they lean into the pain.

I've watched how two other close friends, Rex and Connie, have processed and grown through the loss of their young adult son – their only child – to suicide three and a half years ago. Here's what I've observed in them and others:

They stepped into their pain honestly. Sitting with Rex (we're in a small group together each week with a couple of other men), he never sugar-coated his situation, questions, or feelings. He demonstrated to our group that He has enough faith in God to tell Him straight-up what he thought of allowing his son to die. That kind of honesty can be brutal. It's messy. Rex knew he had permission to say pretty much anything with us, and still be safe. Wounds don't heal if you just cover them up.

In the Old Testament, David lived in this kind of transparency with God. Phrases like “how long, O Lord?” echo throughout his Psalms. His words were painfully honest. And yet, God called him “a man after My heart.” He wrote in Psalm 22: 1-2:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent (NIV).

It's important to remember that although these words were prophetically pointing to what Jesus said on the cross, they were first poured out of the heart of David as coming from his own experience. David leaned into his pain honestly.

They stepped into their pain in community. Rex and Connie are part of prayer groups, support groups for survivors of suicide loss, and other small groups. With believers and unbelievers who share this common thread of suicide loss or care for loved ones with mental illness, there is a safe place to practice being honest with others who understand. Sometimes friends want to love you, but simply don't “get it.” There is a unique fellowship among others who have experienced the same wounds. People heal more quickly when they are intentional about “bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

They stepped into their pain redemptively. As they have deepened in their growing understanding of the power of God's Spirit to heal their hearts, Rex and Connie have sensitively shared that reality with others who have faced a similar loss. They are salt and a hopeful light in relationship with people who know only the salt of tears and little hope. I've thought many times how they are living examples of 1 Corinthians 1:3-7, “comforting others with the comfort with which they have been comforted.”

This article spoke volumes to my heart this morning. Recently with all of the delays over the trials, I have been trying to ignore the fact that I am still grieving. I have been trying to forget that I have a hole in my heart that is still healing. The delays in the trials make it very hard to move on with our new normal life and I have tried to go back to the time before Tonia died but with little success. Instead I have put added pressure on Rick and Sean as well as my extended family. My relationships have suffered over the last several months. I am not the same person I once was but God is shaping me to be the woman He wants me to become. But I have to listen and I have to continue to Step Into my Pain. I have cried out in the early morning hours: "Why is my daughter gone? Why is everything delayed again and again? Why am I at odds with the people in my life? Please take away the sorrow in my heart!" God usually allows me to cry in the shower and then when I turn on mu Ipod a song speaks to my heart.

I have so much more of this journey to go through. My relationship with my son, Sean, is one of my biggest stumbling blocks in my faith walk right now. I have become too clingy with him. He is a man who is living at home and trying to set his feet on a new course in his life. I want him to be my young son who I can mother and advise. It isn't going well! LOL. I have been afraid of losing him; which is not how God wants me to act. I haven't been trusting God with his life and his future. It isn't easy knowing that I only have one of my children still here alive and able dote on. So I am reading "Parenting your 20 Something Kids". I have more to learn and I need to do it now before I push him away.

We have also decided that we need to get back involved with some adults in our lives. We have been teaching Sunday school to the senior high group, we co-lead small groups for the senior high and we work with the youth group on Sunday nights. We don't have the fellowship with other adults and we need this. We have decided to step away from teaching Sunday school for now and get back involved with an adult group at church on Sunday mornings. We need the fellowship and the accountability.

God promises never to leave us, He promises to comfort us when we mourn, and He promises us to be our strength. I need to step into my pain and acknowledge once again that I can't do this alone!

“There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.”

With much love and hugs!