The truth is..

Hey y'all.

So, I've noticed a trend in my social media feeds. It isn't happy. It's a very sad downward spiral of disease and deaths. The truth is, death is a part of life. I realize how backwards that sounds, but we all have to deal with death and some point in time. Some of us have to learn how to cope with it at younger ages, losing loved ones when we're little... too little to understand Heaven and Hell. Too little to understand what cancer or car accidents or heart attacks actually are.

Recently, a friend of mine lost a close friend of hers to a motorcycle accident. I have watched several of my friends, family friends, and relatives diagnosed with cancer, fight the fight, and some have sadly lost. I have had several friends take their own lives, and recently with Robin's passing, there has been an upswing of Suicide Awareness.. but also an upswing in people who have taken their own lives.

Death sucks.

I mean, let's face it: It's something we have to realize is coming. We're all going to die someday. It's one of those thoughts that can have two very different impacts on a person:
1. It can scare the crap out of you
2. It can inspire you to live a life you can be proud of


I have always tried to look at death with the idea that God wouldn't take someone from this earth without having a plan. He wouldn't just strike a person down-- He's got a plan for our lives. He wouldn't give us something we couldn't handle. We have to know and trust that even when our time comes, God has our souls in mind. I am so confident in Heaven and God's Kingdom that death doesn't scare me.

I say this, and I mean it.

I also mean it when I say death makes me sad. I hate watching my friends and family struggle as people continue leaving this world. It is really hard. I miss my friends who have died. I miss them every day. But, I'm also happy that they get to be up in Heaven with God. I think that Heaven is a beautiful place and remembering that our souls get to go there when they leave this earth is comforting.

In Hook, Robin Williams has two lines that yank at my heart:

To Die would be an awfully great adventure

and

To Live would be an awfully great adventure


Here's to lifting up our lives, bringing joy and laughter to this world while we can, and to lifting our souls to heaven when we are done living on this Earth.

My prayers are still focused on Peter, but also spreading to Randy, who has just been diagnosed with kidney cancer, and his family. May God help you heal and protect you through this fight.

TheEnglishMajor