Cherie, Glenn and Christmas ...

These last couple weeks, just days before the celebration of Christmas, I have lost two close friends from my little Idaho community.

Cherie was a dear woman … a member of our church, a widow lady who loved gardening, loved her church, loved helping people, loved the small group she was in … and loved her God. She was 81 years old and apparently in good health. Returning from a meeting in the city where she was putting together Christmas wreaths, she had a massive heart attack and died instantly.

Cherie’s memorial service packed our little church and the atmosphere was full of love, warmth, memories … and hope.

But, the reason I felt compelled to write this was my good friend, Glenn. Glenn was my neighbor. He was a wonderful dad to his four children (with one more due in a few weeks), he was a hard worker, he was greatly interested in his family, the school and his community.

When I had an operation on my hand this last summer, Glenn made sure my lawn was mowed and was there for anything I couldn’t handle alone.

Glenn had a generic back problem that made it very difficult and painful to work … and work is scarce around this part of the country anyway. Glenn was worried that he couldn’t care for the family that he loved so much and made the decision that they would be better off without him.

He spent Sunday with his children, wrote each of them a letter and drove up the road for the last time. Glenn took his own life yesterday morning … leaving a family that he loved behind and breaking my heart. I have no idea what the service will be like or if they will have one … I just know I miss Glenn.

The difference between those two new stories for the Christmas season is HOPE!

Cherie and her family had hope in their hearts … hope that comes from knowing that there is life in the Lord … here, now and in the future.

Glenn had no hope … though he was a good man, he did not have the Lord to fall back on when the going got tough. He thought he had to do it all alone … he had no hope.

In this day and age our society struggles with the TRUE meaning of Christmas … much ink and paper has been wasted on the airing of theories for and against. But if one looks at the statistics about the heartbreak and agony that is unseen amidst the shopping, decorating, baking and partying, one will see that the great gift of the Christmas season that God gave to everyone who will accept it, is the gift of hope.

Without that gift, life can be tough, as it surely must have been for Glenn. But with it … we are offered the strength to make it … no matter what the circumstances might be. We just have to find it, open it and marvel in it.

If you haven’t opened the gift that Christ was born and died to give to you … personally … this is a great time to do it. Accept God’s gift this Christmas.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Larry Abele - Editorial Team

Thank You ...

A few weeks ago we in Canada celebrated Thanksgiving, our friends to the south of us, will celebrate their Thanksgiving soon. In the midst of all the commercialization of Thanksgiving, we sometimes wonder how much do we really give thanks? 

Let me give you something Chi Chi Rodriguez wrote as his thanks to God - (you may remember Chi Chi, the golfer with that great smile ... the man that could hit a ball hundreds of yards away and cause it to dance to that distant hole. Yea, the Chi Chi who came out of great poverty to become one of the great golfers of his generation.) Here is what he wrote;

Thank You God!

“For my parents, who taught us seven kids respect for authority and taught us that even though we were poor in material things, we were rich in spiritual things.

For healing me of rickets when I was four years old and given six months to live.

For my guardian angel.

For my beautiful wife, Iwalani, and my healthy daughter, Donnette.

For revealing to me that I was to do the work of Jesus, giving to others yet never expecting to get anything back.

For allowing me to provide two schools where disadvantaged children can go to get another chance in life.  This enables them to grow and to learn how to give something good back to others.

For the opportunity to play golf for a living and to participate in tournaments like the Legends of Golf for Seniors.

That I am at peace with myself and am prepared to accept Your perfect will for my life.” 

 Chi Chi Rodriguez

 Paul Weresch 

Embrace Your Pain ...

The last 2 weeks have been a “roller coaster” of emotions. Our new Daughter in-law’s father died suddenly two weeks before the wedding. We all had to both grieve and celebrate at the same time.

Then news reached me about my nephew, who has been diagnosed with cancer. He is going through a very difficult time of chemotherapy and not looking forward to a radical surgery.

All of this causes us ask: "what in the world is going on?" As I settled down I realized that we are part of a multitude of people who are experiencing pain, suffering and grief.

One thing is sure, God cannot be blamed for all the suffering in the world. We are living in a sinful world in which all of us bear some responsibility. So lets stop the “Blame Game”.

Let me share something Max Lucado wrote in his devotional "Upwards:

WE DON’T like to admit it, but pain is a fact of life. Sooner or later the “p” word comes into everyone's path. And when it does how do you deal with it? Do you let pain conquer your spirit, or do you stare it down, armed with a “stubborn joy”?

Even in pain God is near. He wants you to grasp the peace that defies pain. He wants to be with you, facing pain with his holy joy. Only he can show you the path to a defiant peace.

God’s purpose is greater than our pain, and he has a greater purpose than our problems. Our cries are not going to slow down the purpose of God - have confidence in that. Years from now we may realize it was those struggles that taught us something we could not have otherwise learned - that there was a purpose in our pain.

Pain teaches us to set our hopes on heaven, to hold firmly to the promise of eternal life, so that we can withstand the struggles and storms of this world may His holy Word be our soothing medicine to our wounded heart.

With those wise words in mind, consider the pains you may be suffering ... God is probably doing something great for you. He will give you the strength to endure and to remember the words of Revelation 21:4 ... "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Embrace your pain ... you are growing in the Lord!

Paul Weresch