Tribute to A Son

“Bless the LORD O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Psalms 103:1

This verse was part of the passage that was in my daily devotional booklet back in 1979 on the day that my son was born.  On March 20, 2010, my son went home to be with the Lord and with his dad at the age of 31.  He was killed in an accident on a four wheeler which somehow flipped and landed on top of him.  The coroner said that he died instantly.  That was the worst day of my life.  I will never forget when they told me that my son was gone, that he was dead.  It is probably the closest thing to hell that a believer can experience.  Unless one has been through it, one cannot understand the emotional pain that is experienced when losing a child.  We expect that our children will outlive us, and thank the Lord, most do, but not all.  It had only been two years since my husband had passed away, and my son had promised his dad that he would look after me, and then he was gone.

My son had been married almost four years to a wonderful young lady who is like a daughter to me.  He had his own landscaping business, owned his own home, and was a responsible citizen as well as a great son.  He called me almost everyday, particularly when it was raining and he couldn’t work.  He would call up and ask, “What’s the weatherman saying?”  He confided in me and asked for advice from time to time.  He loved the Lord and worked around the church.  In 1999, he went on a short term mission to Beijing, China with a group from our church to hand out Bibles.  China was celebrating the 50th anniversary of their communist government and wanted to make a good impression on the rest of the world.  Thus, it was a little easier to get the Bibles through at that time.  My son also went on a mission trip to Portugal, and spent a week in Biloxi, Mississippi, cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina.

We don’t understand why things happen the way they happen.  Christians say that they will ask the Lord about things that happened on earth, you know, like who was on the “grassy knoll” when President Kennedy was killed, but I have all ideas that we will have forgotten all that stuff as we walk with Christ and reunite with our loved ones.  While I certainly miss my husband and my son, I know where they are, and that is a real comfort to me.  They’re not having to deal with all the troubles of the world.  They are in a perfect place, having no worries, fears, or sadness.  I tell folks that when death comes to our loved ones we have to accept it to have inner peace, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.  God knows that we miss those who have gone before us, but it was His prerogative to bring them on home.  After all, we are His creation.  Who knows?  Maybe they are training for His army that will accompany Him on His return.

Life is short.  For some, it is very short.  We don’t ever know when our time is up.  Everyone is very upset about this COVID-19 pandemic as they should be.  It is nothing to joke about.  None of us have been through anything like this.  I pray that it gets over with soon, but no one knows how long it will last, not even the President.  I don’t know why the reporters keep asking him that.  I wrote in a tweet the other day that America is following the path of ancient Israel whom God allowed Assyria to take into captivity because she had become idolatrous and had abandoned God who had blessed and sustained her for thousands of years.  And now, we’ve basically become captives in our homes because of social distancing due to the coronavirus.  Perhaps all this down time will give some folks incentive to get down their Bibles and begin to study God’s word because that’s where we will find the answers.

As we wait out this time, we need to be on our knees in prayer, to keep in touch with our kinfolks, friends, and neighbors, especially the senior citizens, and commit to make this world a better place when we are allowed to hopefully get back to normal, although I think we may be in for a “new” normal.  When major events occur, things rarely go back to the way they were before we were driven out of our comfort zone.  Case in point:  what a hassle it is to get through an airport after 9/11.  Keep your family close, tell each other how much you love them on a daily basis, and if you do not know the Lord in a personal way, seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:6).  May God bless you all.