On Death

I love this quote!

The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.  ~Mark Twain

I received a phone call today. A sad one to tell me Jonel passed away. She was my up line, the Princess House unit organizer I first meet in January 1996.  It was a sad day when I met her, my vibrant and beautiful niece had passed away. She was 18 and enjoying her first year in college. She died from a rare form of blood poisoning, in Atlanta Georgia, the home of the Infectious Disease Control. Jonel came to my home to help me earn some free Princess House. We got a long well and I joined the company a few weeks later. Anything to keep ones mind busy when death creeps into your personal space. She had a kindness I liked and she handled my phamily situation so beautifully. I have never forgotten that.
Death comes and life goes on. Weird isn't it? But somehow no matter who we are, no matter who we lose to death's unkind hand we must honor the person we lose. We must continue to live no matter how difficult it seems.
I worked with a doctor who once said "Why is it all the good people die too soon?" My grandmother use to say that God takes some of us and leaves the others because some of us still have lessons to learn.
I am always sad when I lose someone I know who does not know the Lord. But I can not throw up my hands and cry out in despair because God has a plan and I am hopeful His plan includes those last minute moments reaching out to Him before one's life is finished on this earth.
Jonel passed way too soon for me. She was beautiful and vibrant and she was in her forties. She left a husband and two daughters in their 20s behind. 
I will never figure out life while I am here. Maybe when I meet the Lord myself I can get some answers to a handful of questions I carry with me.
Until then we all need to do those things we keep putting off. Make those phone calls and lunch  plans. Don't put off today what tomorrow may not bring.

John 14:1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (NIV)