Give me Jesus...

I am listening to Jeremy Camp's song "Give me Jesus". It is a refreshing song that brings perspective..."you can have all this world...give me Jesus...". I wrote a post last week that never got published. I could publish it but it seems sort of outdated. One thing I was writing about, though, was the recent loss of a student (if you live in Portland you might have heard about it on the news- rockclimbing accident...her brother-in-law died, too, and was a Gresham Police Officer. That week was really sad around here and the funeral extremely sad. But I realized for me life goes on. Her husband stopped by last week to ask a question and I was really sad for him rest of that afternoon. But I woke up the next day not thinking about it anymore. They do come to my mind often and I pray for them...but for me the sadness is mostly gone. What is my point? Well, I have realized a couple of things through this tragedy...the biggest thing is to LIVE life to the fullest. Not "eat, drink and be merry"...but living a life of purpose. A life I would be proud of when I stand before my Maker. A life that if I died a premature death others would say the nice things they said about Laura Silva. A life that leaves a legacy... I have been trying to find ways to do this...my first step is "risking" more in ministry and relationships. I like to play it safe most of them...because of past hurt and because I am not much of a risk taker... I want to spend more time with my Lord. I have been actively trying to do that...acknowledging His presence throughout my day...asking Him to be glorified through me today...

I also realized that for me the sadness might be gone...but for their families and close friends it will linger for a long time...maybe forever. It makes me realize how each of us have some level of pain in our lives...some more than others...I don't understand fully why some of us are given more than our share (like the Silva family) but I do know that pain can lead us several ways...to bitterness OR closer to the Father. Longing for Heaven...to be free of pain and tears and mourning. I realized on Easter sunday that Laura and Tony are in a better place and they were celebrating our Risen Lord in person!! This gave me chills to think they could go up to Jesus and see his scars and know He sacrificed so they could live eternally!! WOW!

So all this to say...the past few weeks my prayer and my desire is for more of Jesus!