Remembering, death comes with a promise...

I don't normally like doing the same thing that I know everyone else will be doing. Call that my way of being rebellious, not wanting to be like everyone else. I think today is a very special day and warrants all of our attention, Even If you read the same thing here as you will on every blog you read today. Today is the 7th anniversary of a day that anyone from the age of 10 to 110 will remember forever. I would be willing to bet that even 7 years later, you can remeber where you were when you got the news that the towers had been hit. It is not just a memory, it's a feeling, it's a reminder to us all to be thankful for what we have and for many it is a reality.

My son, Josiah, asked me just the other day "Mom, when does God want for me to die?" Yes, my head snapped around and I was shocked not just at the question but at the way that he worded this question. I didn't tell him that death was not God's desire, I did not tell him that we should talk about living rather than dying. I thought if he is asking the serious questions, then he needs the serious answers, even when they are not pretty. I told him that we all die at sometime and that for everyone that time is different. He then asked "Will I die first?" Again, I was shocked at the question, but tried not to show it(I am actually starting to perfect the art of not looking shocked at what they come up with.) My response was "No one knows who will go first, it could be you or it could be one of us, but I do know that if mom and dad die before you do, You will be very well taken care of because there are so many people in his life that love you." He was satisfied with that answer and ran off to play.

My son's curiosity and the anniversary of 9-11 and other life events have had me reflecting latley about life and death and all that is in between. I think that to truly appreciate life we must always keep the idea of death on the horizon. For us death is not scary because we know that God has a plan and that when this life on earth is over we will begin a new life in heaven with HIM. Please take some time today to pray for your neighbors, your co-workers, your family and friends and all of those people that may be wondering when it is their turn to to die and what is next for them.

I know that Paul said it first in Philippians 1:3, but if I may, I would like to borrow his words to say to you now. "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy...."