I found out this morning that I lost a friend today. On this earthly plain, he's lost to me, but the beauty of knowing and living in Christ is that he's not truly gone - he's still experiencing the joy of the Lord. Only now he's without pain, without turmoil and without a single worry.
Greg was 51 with the heart of one of us youngin's; he had truly developed a beautiful spirit of service and never let a day go by where he didn't express his love and gratitude for each of his new friends. As Brandt put it "slowly his eyes would light up, and I sware they became more blue everyday as his hope became restored. " He had a distressing history and it was so encouraging to see what the presence of God in his life had done and was continually doing for him.
Greg was my dishwashing partner. Three out of the five nights I spent with everyone in Lakeland, Florida we'd spend a good 30 in this tiny bathroom awkwardly scrubbing plates and pots, more importantly, getting to know one another. Trusting eachother in those moments, sympathizing with eachother, laughing with eachother and praising God over the day's blessings. He was given 5 dollars for cleaning up the building one day and he asked if he could take me to breakfast. A homeless man who's unable to buy his own groceries on a regular basis wanted to spend his 5 dollars on me. He walked with me places, he cried with me, he sang some crazy old classic rock songs that had so much meaning to him WITH me, shared and invested his sweet life with me. I am so grateful to have known him, even for such a short time. He was blessed with a family in the Can't Ignore the Poor kids and in turn, we were all extremely blessed by him.
I have missed him since I left Florida. Praise you Jesus for allowing us to know Your hope, and restoring faith into our shattered beaten hearts - Gregs example changed me. There is no going back now; especially since he has gotten to go ahead :) Taking comfort in the Lords words:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each
other with these words"
Father, send my love to that spunky monkey.
Greg was 51 with the heart of one of us youngin's; he had truly developed a beautiful spirit of service and never let a day go by where he didn't express his love and gratitude for each of his new friends. As Brandt put it "slowly his eyes would light up, and I sware they became more blue everyday as his hope became restored. " He had a distressing history and it was so encouraging to see what the presence of God in his life had done and was continually doing for him.
Greg was my dishwashing partner. Three out of the five nights I spent with everyone in Lakeland, Florida we'd spend a good 30 in this tiny bathroom awkwardly scrubbing plates and pots, more importantly, getting to know one another. Trusting eachother in those moments, sympathizing with eachother, laughing with eachother and praising God over the day's blessings. He was given 5 dollars for cleaning up the building one day and he asked if he could take me to breakfast. A homeless man who's unable to buy his own groceries on a regular basis wanted to spend his 5 dollars on me. He walked with me places, he cried with me, he sang some crazy old classic rock songs that had so much meaning to him WITH me, shared and invested his sweet life with me. I am so grateful to have known him, even for such a short time. He was blessed with a family in the Can't Ignore the Poor kids and in turn, we were all extremely blessed by him.
I have missed him since I left Florida. Praise you Jesus for allowing us to know Your hope, and restoring faith into our shattered beaten hearts - Gregs example changed me. There is no going back now; especially since he has gotten to go ahead :) Taking comfort in the Lords words:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each
other with these words"
Father, send my love to that spunky monkey.
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