I turned 45 yesterday. I am totally okay with saying my age out loud. I am not sure why people are not okay with it. You have 2 options, you get older, or you are dead... so... I am good with the getting older.
I want to talk about a boy who lived the life of a man, a man who was filled with Jesus and let everyone around him see the Jesus who lived in him.
Luke came into our lives when my oldest daughter Emma became friends with him is high school. They became good friends and had a fun relationship. The first thing that struck me about this young man was his extremely respectful behavior. He looked you in the eye, shook your hand and was just an amazing young person.
As I got to know about Luke I learned that he was a very impressive athlete, especially football. This seemed a little odd to me as I found this out. If you didn't know better, from talking to Luke, he was surrounded by this AWESOME group of football players. If I had to guess from how Luke would talk to us about his team and the sport he loved, he was an ok player, maybe better than some, that just happened to be on this team that was a group of phenomenal players that made his look good.
Humble boy who you had respect for those around him and knew how to be a team player.
I may have some of my dates wrong, but I believe it was right after football season his Junior year they found a tumor in Luke's chest. Not long after that they removed an 8 lb tumor from his check. He worked hard and came back to play his Senior year of football. Then at the end of his senior year the cancer returned and in August he passed away from cancer.
Now, that is the story, one cut too short, about a boy with promising athletic ability, kind personality, and a generally good guy who got cancer and died before his time.
I would like to talk now about the bigger picture of Luke's life and how it impacted my life.
This story I am about to tell is more about the way Luke's life impacted our family and in particular the way it continues to impact the life of our daughter Emma.
Luke tried to date Emma, she however, living 2 hours away from him, had found a boy here in town that she has dated over the last 6 years on and off. Their Junior year Luke asked her to prom and she didn't go with him. She did a few things with Luke outside of school but spent a lot of time visiting on the phone with him (you know, the texting and the snapchatting!). These two seemed to be good friends.
We heard about and ready about Luke's story. It was mentioned often about how Luke loved the Lord and how Jesus Christ was definitely at the center of his life. It seemed that in all things Luke had turned his life, no matter the outcome, over to the Lord.
The year Luke passed away was a hard year for us. Our youngest daughter lost one of her long time best friends Paige, and then Emma's good friend Sydney died of a brain tumor she had been fighting for 6 years. It was a difficult year and then we again were going to a funeral for another boy lost to cancer.
We sent to this funeral for yet another teenager lost too soon. WOW... okay, so let me be clear that loosing anyone is difficult, loosing a child, there is no way to describe what I have witnessed as I have watched people I love so very much morn the loss of a child. I have never lost one of my own children and I think it is one of those things that you can imagine how awful it would be but until you experience it, I just think there are no words that can describe how overwhelmingly terrible it has to be.
But again I say WOW. I have never in my life been to such an amazing funeral in all my life. Every single second of every moment pointed towards Jesus Christ. I have been a Christian nearly all my life. I was raised in an wonderful Christian family and my spirit was convicted. This boy, who lived the life of a man, raised to know Jesus Christ, completely put himself in the loving and all knowing hand of his Lord and Savior and in doing so witnessed with the way he lived his life and the way he died to all who knew him, and all who knew of him.
It was unreal. Both my husband and I walked away in awe of a young man who lived a life, although short, totally devoted to the Lord. We watched his family, who also very apparently loved and worshiped a living God.
So, now we fast forward a year to a girl, who has some regret when it come to this young man, but who was also raised in a Christian home. She has not been living her life for the Lord of late, but we know she loves Jesus and has given herself to the Lord.
Luke's witness is living on. This girl cried on my couch as she relived the love and faith that she had seen in Luke. As she delves into her own relationship with the lord she is looking back on a life that was lived in complete faith in Jesus Christ.
I now have to ask myself, and I am asking you... How do you impact the lives around you for Jesus?
