coping with strange

today's post was written with a heavy heart.  a couple of days ago, my neighbor passed away.  he was 21.  i wasn't close to him and i'm not going to pretend like i was.  but his death made me really stop and think how much death that our community has faced in the last 4 years.  my small town home is a place where everyone at least knows everyone's face.  and even if you can't place the face you can bet that you know someone that was really close to that person.  in the last 4 years, my hometown has lost 7 of it's young people that i can remember.  at least 5 of those were the result of car accidents.  you begin to wonder why all this happens.  it's become really strange to me to think that i just saw my neighbor working on his car this last weekend and now he is just a memory.  the truth of the matter is that death is strange.  when God created the world, death was not a part of it.

"Sin came into the world because of what one man did, and with sin came death..."

- Romans 5:12

no one was meant to die, and that is why it is so strange & sad & awful.  thankfully God gave us a way to live.  eternally with Him.  when He sent His son Jesus to die for us, he conquered death.  because we have sinned, we cannot associate with God.  but Jesus can, Jesus is His son.  and if we believe in Jesus and follow Him, He will lead us to eternal life!

i never made an effort to talk with my neighbor or any of the kids that have passed away in our small community about this eternal life.  i'm not saying that they didn't follow Christ.  i'm just saying that i personally don't know because i was afraid of an awkward conversation.  this has haunted me on several occasions.  that's why i'm writing this post.  i'm saying to myself: "enough is enough.  you need to make a difference because no one is exempt when it comes to death or eternal life."

i didn't mean for this to be a heavy post but i did think it was necessary because it's what has been on my mind.  if anyone has any questions at all don't hesitate to comment or email me!!!  this is serious stuff. 

so today my prayer is a song quote by the band, revive:

Lord,

teach me to number my days

and count every moment

before it slips away.

to take in all the colors

before they turn to gray.

i don't want to miss

even just a second

more of this.

cause it happens in a blink.

amen.