Today I did an amazing funeral. I celebrated with others the life and death of a 26 year old woman. The funeral was amazing because of the love reflected by the women's husband. You see, a few months back I was called to perform a wedding. The wedding took place with no music, no guests, flowers or candles. The setting was at the hospital, in room 315 of the ICU.
The woman who's life we celebrated had a rare lung disease and was very ill and unexpected to live. Her boyfriend and her desired to marry, but realized their chances were diminishing. One of their good friends knew me and asked if I would perform the ceremony in the ICU! What a privilege I thought.
The love and commitment these two showed for one another, especially the groom, made it tough to get through the vows. I couldn't help it, but in my mind I kept wondering why this guy was sticking around. Most guys would have been long gone with the first sign of a terminal illness. Some guys would stick it out and maintain the friendship, but how many guys would marry a girl knowing that death was certain?
That wedding day reflected to me the amazing depth of love people can have for one another and was reiterated again by a broken husband during the funeral celebration. There are not to many incidences that allow you a glimpse of what the love of God looks like for us, but the wedding and this funeral provided me a peek. Paul prays for us in Ephesians 3:17-19, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Today, I believe I have grasped a little deeper understanding of how wide, long, high and deep God's love is for us! I am glad love is a part of this great adventure called life.
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3 comments:
Awsome, God is Love. 1 corinthians 13:13-And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. What a testimony to love. Thanks for writing this Bill.
Great thoughts...glad you are blogging.
awesome that God uses people like us to display His love. Isn't that what he did for us? He made a covenant with ALL of us, knowing that some of us would still die.
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