TO SAVE A LIFE--REVISITED

The valley experienced the loss of another sweet soul this week.  This has been happening a lot since Christmas.  Sometimes they are just names listed in the paper.  The last couple souls are people who were deeply loved by people I love.  It brings back June 7th all over again.  Sometimes I think the pain is magnified, because I now share this pain with someone I love.

Today during church, people shared so many thoughtful messages.  "God is good."  "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."  "The cross can save a life."  The last one hit me like a brick.  For many, when one of our own leaves this world via his or her own hand, we worry about their souls--their eternal life.  Is this an unforgiveable sin?  Based on the teachings of Christianity, the answer is no.  The only unforgiveable sin is to deny Christ.  Because of that, today I want to tell you the status of his eternal life is not one of my worries for Andrew.  The cross did save his life the day he declared his love for Jesus by accepting Him as his personal Lord and Savior.  He made it official on a sunny September day when Grandpa Bud dipped him into the Touchet River and brought him out renewed in his life with Christ.  On the day he left this world, he told us he was ready to go home.  I believed him then and I know he is there today.

I miss Andrew's physical presence; however, I am not worried about his eternal life.  The cross did save his life and even though it seems to many that his life was lost, it was not.  His life was saved by the life he led in Christ.  His sixteen year old body has been lost to those of us who love him and who survive him, but the thing that really mattered, his soul, was taken to Heaven personally by our Heavenly Father.  He overcame Satan and the darkness he put in  Andrew's life and led Andrew home.  Isn't that what we want for all of God's children?  I just wish he wouldn't have made that choice.  I wish someone could have talked to him about this permanent solution to a temporary problem.  I hope we can stop this pain from happening to another family.

So if you miss Andrew, be like me.  Miss him, but don't worry about him.  He really is in a great place.  For him, the cross really did save a life.  But let's work on getting the message out to those who are surrounded by darkness or who have not heard the message of the cross.  As we leave the season of celebrating the birth of Christ, share the message of the hope through the death on the cross.  There is hope in our world.  There is love in our world. 

Peace to all who read this

~Andrew's Mom