There is a special Haven of Rest not too far from my home, located in Glendale, Arizona.   This is a cemetery that holds a much too long list of very special to me and to my friends and family.   It was not ever intentional that so many of them are there, but that fact brings both comfort and at times a shiver that chills my body every time I pass by.

If my memory serves me well enough, my first time at this place of rest was to bury my father.   Although he had been in the hospital for a recent heart attack, he was supposed to be on the mend and ready to come home soon.   But instead, my mom received a call that he had experienced another heart attack, this one fatal, most likely caused by a blood clot.   My dad was older than most fathers when my sister and I were born.  He died at 76 years old, but I was only in my early 20s and feel like I missed so much of life with him.    It would be nearly 20 years later when we would be placing my mom’s urn in the rose garden there as well.

However, within those twenty years, we also found ourselves back in the solemn place to say a loving and heart-wrenching goodbye to:

• Two sisters, who died of Cystic Fibrosis at the ages of 16 and 21.
• A high school senior who was shot and killed in a theatre robbery^.
• A baby boy who only lived a few hours.
• Two small girls who only lived to be 9 months and 18 months old due to a congenital disorder.
• My step-father, a man who gave my mom many happy years, later in her life.

In my own last will and testament I have requested to be buried at this same cemetery.   Perhaps because it is such a familiar place, but also because I feel surrounded by those I loved.

As I was thinking about all this, I can’t help but feel deep concern for those who have lost a loved one and don’t believe in God, or heaven or the gift of eternal life.   How final saying good-bye for them must be.   One of my favorite authors, Max Lucado, says it like this…

“Many of you have buried loved ones as well. And just as God spoke to them, he speaks to you.  If you’ll celebrate a marriage anniversary alone this year, he speaks to you.  If your child made it to heaven before making it to kindergarten, he speaks to you.  If you lost a loved one in violence, if you learned more than you want to know about disease, if your dreams were buried as they lowered the casket, God speaks to you.

He speaks to all of us who have stood or will stand in the soft dirt near an open grave. And to us he gives this confident word: “I want you to know what happens to a Christian when he dies so that when it happens, you will not be full of sorrow, as those who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and then came back to life again, we can also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him all the Christians who have died”.                                        (1 Thess. 4:13–14 TLB). “

For me, there are so very many reasons to believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and all that He represents and offers to each one of us.   But the realization, the knowing, the looking forward to seeing each one of our loved ones, who also believed, in heaven again…  is a joyous celebration, difficult to measure.

Max Lucado goes on to say…

“God transforms our hopeless grief into hope-filled grief…  We long to know that our loved ones are safe in death. We long for the reassurance that the soul goes immediately to be with God. But dare we believe it? Can we believe it? According to the Bible we can.  Scripture is surprisingly quiet about this phase of our lives. When speaking about the period between the death of the body and the resurrection of the body, the Bible doesn’t shout; it just whispers. But at the confluence of these whispers, a firm voice is heard. This authoritative voice assures us that at death the Christian immediately enters into the presence of God and enjoys conscious fellowship with the Father and with those who have gone before.”

At a time in each of our lives, when we question why, and we hurt beyond description, we can also rejoice knowing that those we have said good-bye to are at this very moment, at peace in the presence of our loving God.    And when it’s our turn, we will be too.

The song, “Friends” was song at Padraic’s funeral by the high school youth group at our church that I was extremely blessed to lead.   The lyrics of this song says it all…

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends

What an incredible promise!

You Tube performance of “Friends” by Michael W. Smith