From Kevin Funk…

So there I am sitting at home ready to go to our Easter service anticipating the Good News and all of the great fellowship about to ensue.  “God, you are good”, I thought to myself. This Easter felt like any other. I prayed for Pastor Dave as I was tying my tie in front of the mirror.

Just like I thought, our Easter service was great and the people I got talk to were really excited to get to their family Easter activities. The little girls in their beautiful spring dresses and boys showing off great pastel colors.  Wow did everything seem perfect today.

BAM! My wife gets a phone call around 12:45 in the afternoon and the voice on the other end says get to the hospital fast!  I don’t know about you, but it seems like the unexpected always happens at the most unexpected times.  My wife’s stepfather, that raised her from little on up, has had a major heart attack.  Wow God, what’s this all about?  We are  supposed to be celebrating the resurrection of your Son today. This is not a day of despair but a day of everlasting hope and joy.  Nobody is supposed to be injured, or hurt, or let alone in an operating room for 6 hours!

Then I think of a verse….Romans 11:33 “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!”  I know God is sovereign, however on “perfect days” it’s like what in the world is going on here? Everything is meant to bring glory to God. If that means mourning on Easter then so be it.

I lost my dad a couple of years ago and he would always tell me, “son, He who lives in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The power of Jesus WILL get you through anything the world throws at you.

As I sit here in the waiting room in between reports from the Chaplin, I can’t help but think of the times I could have shared the gospel with my wife’s stepfather or just hang out with him and let God open up some conversational doors. Instead of guilt or regret, I know I am a work in progress and God is always molding me into what he wants me to be as I walk in obedience to what He has called me to do.  Having said that, I know following Christ is a 24-7 job and whatever, whenever, and with whomever, I need to be ready to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice.