This morning I woke up with a huge cloud hanging over my head. I arose out of bed, stumbled around, and finally cleared my head up enough to sit down and do some homework. Dan’s funeral was going to begin at 11:00, so I had some time. After finishing a few questions I finally took a quick shower, got dressed and headed to the church. I arrived at 9:40 a.m. with 1 hour and 20 minutes to get my thoughts together. I had been asked to share a scripture verse and pray during the funeral and so I needed to figure out the verse that I wanted to share and determine what I wanted to pray. When I arrived the pastor asked me to look over the obituary in case I wanted to read it. I reluctantly read over it and wasn’t sure if I could do it or not, so he went ahead and read it instead. I am glad too, because he did a spectacular job. At 5 minutes till 10:00 they asked me to come into the pastor’s office to pray. I walked in, we prayed, and I then went back to my desk. With a whole hour to spare I sat back, relaxed, and began pondering my relationship with Dan, searching for a verse.
Imagine my surprise when it was 1 minute till 10:00 and Evan walked into my office saying, “Have you lost what since you were born with boy! Come on we have to go.”
“WHAT!” I exclaimed. “What time does the funeral start?”
“Right now, 10:00.”
“10:00? You are kidding me! I thought it started at 11:00! Oh my gosh, you have got to be kidding me!.”
“No, Craig, it starts at 10:00, come on lets go.”
My heart sank! All day on Tuesday I was under the impression that everything started at 11:00. I told several friends 11:00 and they showed up at 11:00 only to hear the last few minutes of the service. Ten million thoughts were racing through my head, my heart was pounding, I began to sweat, and I had NO VERSE! Scrambling, I began to think, what is it about Dan that was so appealing? What made me feel so comfortable around him? What did Dan have that blessed my life time and time again? And then it hit me, love. He would do anything for you, he was always kind, always gentle and he had such a servant’s heart. No matter what type of mood you were in, Dan was patient with you. Even when he was joking around with you he was kind and gentle. He was never rude or self-seeking, in fact, his concern was always for everyone else. He always made sure that I had everything I needed. He was always there for me. I went to Dan when I was happy, and I cried on his shoulder when I was upset. Every time, he would listen. His delight was in the things of God and the truth of the word.
So I read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Even though Dan is gone, the way he loved us is still alive and well in the hearts he touched. I had so much to say about him when I walked up to that pulpit, and yet all I could produce were tears. I choked out a few words, read scripture, and prayed a short prayer knowing that if I didn’t do this quickly, I would just stand there and cry. The good news is, even in the midst of my weakness and mistakes the service was beautiful none the less. Not by my hands, and not even by the pastors hands (though he did a magnificent job), but by the very presence of God that filled that place as believers around the room experienced both great sorrow and great joy.
I am convinced of this, God put Danny in our church exactly when He meant to, and God called Him home exactly when He meant to. Though this was a tremendous loss to us, we are certainly not lost. God provided exactly what we needed when Dan came, and God will still provide exactly what we need. This may alter the way our church functions, this may alter the lives of the staff, this may change the way we do things, but I am convinced that these changes are another part of God’s plan. When we are weak, He is strong.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Philippians 4:4-7
Pressed
God is so gracious to provide us with words that He wants us to hear to provide peace and comfort, and He did that through you yesterday, Craig. Those verses fit Dan so well and the funeral was just what he would have wanted. Thanks for sharing your heart with us..it helps remind us that this is truly a time of rejoicing. Dan will never be sick again or feel pain. He is completely free from the bondage that this world brings. Things will be hard for a while, there’s no doubt about that, but God provides us with so much hope and we can be sure that we will see him again one day. Love is what Dan shared with us, and that love will forever be in our hearts and on our minds. I only hope that I could serve God as diligently and with as much fervor and zeal for God that Dan did. He was truly an inspiring, God-filled man. We love you Dan!
God was once again faithful to provide the strength, focus, and courage to stand before His people and offer what was asked of us during Danny’s funeral Wednesday morning. Thank you Jesus for the time You allowed me to love and be loved by this incredible man. As I think back over my nine years of blessings these are a just few of the wonderful memories I recalled:
MOVING DAY: When the kids and I moved from Sullivan to Fort Smith, Danny organized what seemed to be a posse to help move out and load up the U-Haul truck, and our vehicles. He could definitely be categorized as a “get it done yesterday” kind of fella!
LIFE LESSONS: When asked and only when asked,Dan offered wonderful advice.
REMODELING HINTS: Danny was there when I was ready to gut my kitchen and try new things I had no idea how to do…we were quite the pair when cutting and nailing trim board.
OLD RED PICKUP TRUCK: Dan was always willing to drive me or loan me that old red pickup truck for running errands around town, or whatever I came up with for which I couldn’t use my suburban. I always loved seeing him toodle about town in it. LAWN CARE: Oh, my goodness! The day he came over and helped me trim my big round hedge at the corner of the house…I said, “Dan, how am I going to clip the top?” He said, “Oh, that’s no problem, just lean the ladder on the shrub and climb up and trim.” I responded WITHOUT hesitation, “ARE YOU CRAZY? I’m high enough, if I fall I could break my arm. What kind of idea is that?” Needless to say, the shrub got trimmed. Danny held the ladder, I climbed and did a one-handed trim job. I loved that about him…if I wasn’t dreamin’ up some wild thing to do…he WAS! I think one of Danny’s mottos was, ‘If there’s a will there’s a way.’ He was always good to (make it happen). I remember one day I drove over to Kevin and Cheryl’s house and Danny was mowing on Kevin’s zero-radius turn lawn mower…tee hee. I thought, hey that’s pretty cool. So, Danny hopped off and offered to let me take it for a spin…and I did exactly that! I didn’t realize(silly me)that if you literally do a zero-radius turn you WILL leave little naked spots in the yard. Well…Danny was waving at me, but I didn’t realize that he was trying to get me to stop…tee hee I thought he was encouraging me on and saying isn’t that a good mower. Oh my, he finally got me off the mower and showed me my handy work…oops.
BACHIN’ IT: When Sandra would go out of town and Danny stayed behind, sometimes I would invite him over to eat or we’d go out. There were times I’d get dinner “right” and sometimes not, but Danny would always eat it like it was a chef prepared meal. Ya know…I think God gave him the stomach of a wild boar…tee hee ‘cuz they can eat anything!:-)
PARENT: My mom has always told me over the years that God is good to bring people into our lives to fill areas from those whom we’ve had to give up. Danny and Sandra have been the grandparents and parents that the kids and I had missed from living away. Danny was a dear friend, sounding board, partner in crime, and ‘dad’ to name only a few of the many hats he wore when interacting in our lives. Thank you Father for the wonderful man of God that you allowed me experience for 9 terrific years! I have been truly blessed during my time with Danny and will continue to be blessed through the precious memories made.
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