Until We Meet Again
I just received word that Layne Daniel went Home to be with his Savior about 8:30 p.m. - nearly 45 minutes ago. I know Sharon, Jason, and Krista are experiencing new depths of grief and loss, and my heart aches for and weeps with them.
Layne was our pastor for 6 years. He had played a big role in Mr. Incredible's life from the time he was a teenager, and he and his family have been wonderful friends to us and our family. We will miss him here on earth, but we are thankful that we know that we will see him again one day - in all probability sooner than we would think.
Funeral details have not yet been set, but we expect his wake to be held within a couple of days. I'll let you know. In the meantime, here's the link to his blog one more time in case you would like to leave your condolences there.
I am happily married to 
2 comments:
I am so sorry to hear about Layne. This is what confuses me about prayers: a teenager we know needed a kidney, so we've been praying for her. She got her kidney! Answered prayers? Well, the other teenager who gave her his kidney had to die in order for her to be saved. And you KNOW he was receiving prayers for his survival.
I can't wrap my head around that.
Dana, the thing about prayers is that we pray for what we want and what we think is best. But we don't know everything.
We know everyone has to die sometime, but we don't understand the reasons why some people seem to die before their time, like Layne and the teenager you mentioned. However, we can take comfort in the fact God knows when, why, and how each and every one of us will die.
It comes down to our choosing to either accept by faith that God knows best (that doesn't mean we don't grieve the losses) or becoming cynical, angry, resentful, and bitter at the seeming injustice of it all.
I faced that choice when I miscarried our first child - the one I had desperately wanted since I was a little girl. I honestly had a hard time and cried out to God many times. Mr. Incredible didn't understand my anguish, and I didn't feel like I could turn to anyone else.
All along, God proved faithful. I could almost literally feel His arms around me at times, and even though I was angry at Him, He was there with me the whole time. He understands our griefs and wants us to pour out our hearts to Him, including our feelings of anger and grief.
But we cannot stay in that place of anger. We must allow God to speak to us, and even though we will probably not know all the reasons for our loss until we get to Heaven, we can learn to trust that He did what was best for us and for the one we lost.
It's all about faith.
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