I'm back...

Still doesn't seem real that our friend is gone. He was such a precious precious person. I was so tempted to ask God why, but you know I have total assurance that God has a big plan for this. Ken was so special and so in love with his Lord Jesus. He shamelessly shared the Lord with his friends, he was a servant and a huge light in the darkness here. Believers like that, unfortunately are not the norm, and if God chose to allow him to go home rather than stay here for longer, he has to have a big purpose in store. It has to affect more lives than he would have affected had he continued here in his walk of faith! I believe that with ALL my heart.

The wake yesterday was such a mixture of sadness and hope for me. I had a strong confidence and hope that God is especially going to work in his parent's and sister's life through this. Yet he made such an impact on so many people and so many were grieving deeply. I will miss him so much too. It still seems like it must have been a dream to see him lying there so still and lifeless. Rocky's gonna miss him a lot too. He was one of Rocky's best friends.

Please lift up his parents and sister in prayer. They were definitely in shock and have a lot ahead of them. Pray for the church that he attended there and they might somehow have an impact on those men he worked with. They filed into the church and looked lost and so confused. If at all this could impact some of them to search for God and Ken's church might somehow reach out to them, that would just be awesome.

We already feel a sense of renewed determination to share our faith. And a greater sense of how precious life is and how quickly it can be lost. And such an appreciation for the many people God allows us to know and to be impacted by!!! We serve an awesome God and the family of believers he has surrounded us with are so precious. I am so thankful that I was able to know Ken when he was alive and see how much light and love he brought to the people in his life.

We came back home LATE last night and were up early this morning to prepare for chapel at one of the Christians schools we speak at often. I had prepared my message days before all this and the title was "been there, done that". The verse was Hebrews 4:15-16. I had already planned to talk about how amazing it is that we have a God who came here and walked in our flesh, experienced everything we have and knows exaclty how we feel when we bring to him our troubles and struggles. It was so appropriate to be able to share how in the loss of our friend yesterday I was able to take so much comfort in knowing God was there for me, and I could take my sadness to him in prayer and he would understand. I hope it had an impact on some of the girls at the school.

I was filled with peace all day today and often found a smile spread across my face when I thought about where Ken is now. He is in the presence of his beloved Savior, worshipping him and adoring him. WOW, how amazing that must be. On the train ride yesterday, I listed to "I Can Only Imagine" over and over several times. WOW, what is it like to see Jesus, to be in his presence. Would I dance, stand in awe or fall to my knees? I Can Only Imagine what it will be like. One day, I will know. We'll all be there together standing in the middle of His Glory, worshipping him! WOW, it's gonna be amazing.

Ken, I know you're there already and I can't imagine how awesome it must be. We miss you buddy, but we are waiting with hope and anticipation to see what God is gonna do through this. See ya when we get there!