The best Christmas present ever!
DEATH HURTS! The first time I ever thought about death is when I was four. My great uncle came to live with us at an advanced age because he had cancer. When he died, I really didn’t understand cancer, much less death. Now that I am turning 70, I have sweet memories of people who have died, many of whom seemed to have died what we would call before their time: school friends, family members and other dear friends.
On Nov. 30, I received a call that Lynda was in intensive care. On Dec. 1, she went to be with the Lord. She and her husband had a special friendship with me and my wife. Whenever I saw Lynda out in the yard, I would either go across the street to talk with her or we would yell, “YOO HOO!” in a high pitched voice and then yell, “HI NEIGHBOR!”
Within minutes after word was sent to neighbors on our street, one of them called me and said that every time Lynda walked into a room, she lit it up. I agreed with her thoroughly and told her about how she appeared at our front door seven years ago when we first moved in, with a warm welcome. Lynda had me questioning myself why I did not recognize her because when I answered the door she let out an enthusiastic, “JEFF HALLLLL” like she had known me for years. It was obvious to me that she had a great love of people.
My fondest memory of Lynda was just weeks before she died. We were standing in the street talking. She seemed harried because of all the details to be taken care of concerning their move to a new home. All of a sudden Lynda said, “Let’s pray.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and she started to pray. When she finished, I started to pray for her and her family. All of a sudden, I was shocked because I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a third person, another neighbor, was there to pray with us. What a blessing!
I really like giving nicknames to people. Because of the above, and because of the bright yellow top Lynda wore on occasion, I gave her the nickname of Sunshine. This is my term of endearment, which I have only given to two other people. However, in Lynda’s case it is more apropos and should be written... SONSHINE!
“But,” you say, “I thought you entitled this ‘The best Christmas present ever!’ What gives?”
When we lose a dear one, it makes us melancholy, and tons of questions and doubts may flood our minds. To me, the worst loss would be to lose a spouse. The best Christmas Present of all is the reason for this season. God knew before he formed the universe how many days each of us had on earth. God requires us to be sinless in order to be with Him when our life on earth is done. He knew we would not be perfect, so he created a solution. He sent His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to live among us and die on the cross so that his shed blood would cover our sins, and he arose again. And what do we need to do? Our salvation is not based on good works, attending church or giving of our talents and money to a church. NO, all we have to do is confess our sins, repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ! It’s as simple as that. HOWEVER, to many of us this sounds too easy. It’s hard to give God all the credit. We want to do something ourselves. But, as found in the Gospel of John, it is that easy. It is a blessing to know that Lynda placed her faith in Jesus Christ, and she will have the best Christmas ever!
Note: As I sat in the car, in the rain, waiting for a friend to meet me for breakfast the day after Lynda died, I looked through the myriad of raindrops filling the windshield and compared them to the feeling of tears I was filled with. And then it struck me. With one pull on the wiper controls, those raindrops would be wiped away, and there would be SON-SHINE to follow.