One last update
One thing that continues to resonate within me is an overwhelming gratitude for all that God has done through so many during this difficult season culminating in Pam’s Homegoing. It is beyond “being thankful.” It is actually a gratitude beyond word s.
My daughter is laboring in the room next to me, writing thank-you notes to so many who sent gifts and flowers and memorials for Pam. Our family long ago banned me from writing due to my terrible penmanship, which would probably not let me pass second grade. (Sorry Mrs. Ross at Charles Russell Elementary).
So I will attempt to speak a gratitude that defies the barriers of language on behalf of my family. Many, many people ought to be personally thanked for the faithfulness and generosity shown us through this most difficult of times. She would insist that I try.
We have been blessed by flowers, gifts and food (skillfully and lovingly coordinated by Shelly Rabon and the Meal Train) providing us with meals worthy of the greatest episodes of the Food Channel.
Our stomachs have been filled even though our hearts have been breaking through the days since Pam’s April 17 surgery. And please know that, in our neighborhood filled with many who are unchurched, the unwavering care and devotion you showed day by day did not go unnoticed. They have seen through your love what the body of Christ really looks like. You showed up… some to simply sit and pray… and it mattered.
Your prayers for us and for Pam’s healing have bombarded the gates of Heaven and been laid as a pleasing incense before the Father’s throne of grace. We have seen this daily through the Prayers for Pam website. In His Sovereignty and in fatherly wisdom He chose to bring her home and answer our prayers for healing in His Presence. I longed for it to be otherwise… but submit to His grace and purpose for us in this.
As we have walked this journey, your church staff has stepped up in ways both seen and unseen to minister to us, and to you. We have been recipients of the care and blessings and talents they have shared, as you have, through these difficult days.
We are grateful beyond words for the sacrificial gifts and kindness of so many. But I would like again to mention the selfless sacrifice of time, attention and care offered by Tanya and Tim Klein. Tanya’s relationship with and care and love for Pam was remarkable and refreshing. She was, I believe, sent by God for such a time as this. Our family’s gratitude and love for their selfless gift to us is beyond measure and could never be repaid.
I shared in another post that Psalm 40:1-3 was our “guide” and spiritually “framed” this experience for us. As we cried out to the Lord expectantly and patiently, He heard our cry and answered. Pam’s feet, once buried in the muddy “pit” of cancer, are now firmly standing on the solid rock. He sustained and carried us, as we prayed and as we waited, in the struggle of our pain and circumstance.
That leads me to my final note of gratitude… our family’s thankfulness for the service of celebration last Tuesday night. I have never been anywhere in my lifetime where the presence of the Lord was so real… where the sweetness of Heaven was so evident… and the “temporary troubles” of this present day faded into such glory. But I should not be surprised; because Psalm 40:3 assured us it would happen. “And many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Praise God, that night they did.
And for that, we will be forever grateful beyond words.
