Beginning to Heal

Today was the memorial service for Bro. Kim. It was amazing to see how many people came in person to remember this wonderful, faithful man of God.

At the request of his wife Martha, our church choir was part of the service. We sang "Worthy is the Lamb." It was miraculous to see Martha's countenance change as we sang that song. She'd been in deep sorrow as she came into the sanctuary, but when we starting singing that song (one of Kim's favorites), Martha's whole demeanor changed. For that brief moment or two, she moved from grieving her husband's passing to praising her God and King. I want to love Jesus that much too.

Many words were spoken about what a wonderful pastor and teacher Kim was. But one of the things I liked best was when one of the speakers said (and I paraphrase, as it's been a long 4 days), that in the book of John, it's stated that when Jesus was getting ready to leave his disciples, he said this:

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last..."

And then the speaker said that we are the fruit of Bro. Kim's work; his faithfulness to God's calling on his life. Then this simple fact made a difference. ...that we as fruit have many, many seeds inside us...and it's our job to continue following our calling to glorify God, and by doing so, continue to plant the seeds that Kim planted in us.

I just loved the thought that even though Kim is gone from us, our work, and the work of my children will, in part, be attributed to the faithful work that Kim allowed God to do through him. God is so awesome!!

Lastly, I just have to say this...I don't know WHERE God is going to find another pastor/teacher who can teach me and reach me consistently, every week with something new to say, like Kim did. But this I KNOW -- God will do that, and I may be dragged kicking and screaming into another style of preaching. But I'll bet you anything, that if my grumpy ol' flesh will get out of the way, I'll learn just as many wonderful things about my God from "the new guy" as I ever did from Bro. Kim.