After having the honor of attending the celebration of Laura’s
life, a life that was, undoubtable, lived to the fullest, I share with
you some thoughts, observations, and hopefully, a few words of comfort
for those who are greatly troubled by the loss of such a timeless
friend. Laura was a light. In the week following her death, I heard it
said on more that one occasion that she was an “
old soul.” I
knew Laura only for a short time, but in that time I certainly did see
this inherent trait in her. A love for life; a spontaneity that made you
love her; a smile that made you smile. I submit to you, friends, that
she was not merely an old soul, but like all of us, an eternal one. You
see, Laura discovered, in the twenty short years that God gave her here
on Earth, a truth that many people spend the better part of eighty years
trying to figure out. This truth is that God is most glorified when we
enjoy Him. You find this theme in the
Westminster Confession, in John Piper’s ”
Desiring God,” in A. W. Tozer’s ”
The Pursuit of God,”
and countless other works of faith. It is echoed in David’s writings,
as well. The book of Psalms tells us that David was a man after God’s
own heart. We all know that he was, by no means, perfect. Nonetheless,
David was one that knew God intimately. We see this as he writes in
Psalms 42:1 “
As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.”
Laura was unique in that you just couldn’t help but love her. She was
rare and refreshing. She had immense joy. Joy that seemingly oozed out
of her tiny frame. Recall that the chief end of man is two-fold: 1) to
glorify God and 2) to enjoy him forever. Laura figured out the meaning
of life at a young age. Most of us understand the “glorifying God” part;
we know that he commands us to love him. We do this by obeying his
commandments and doing unto others as we would do unto ourselves. The
second part, enjoying him, is ironically the hard part for most of us.
It wasn’t for Laura. She knew how to enjoy God by enjoying the gift of
life that he gave her. You saw this in her smile. You heard it in her
words. You felt it in the stories of the lives she touched while she was
here on Earth. At her funeral, Mr. Tom Wills mentioned that the last
time he got the chance to speak with Laura, she told him that she “
loved her life.”
So many of us go through life striving to do what is right and to honor
God, only to forget that we honor him most by enjoying the life he gave
us, to know that every day is a gift, to love our lives. Many people
ask the question “
Why?” Why would God allow such a beautiful
person, both inside and out, to be taken from us so soon? This is a fair
question to ask and my heart truly goes out the ones who can’t get past
this question. However, to that person, I submit this thought: Maybe
God saw that Laura had figured out what this life was about and it was
time for her to enjoy him to the fullest. In the book of Philippians,
Paul talks about glorifying God in life and in death. He writes“
…it
is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but
with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body,
whether in life or death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain.” This passage, for the longest time, puzzled me. How could it
be gain to die? I presume that if you do not know your maker and have
not taken time to repent of sin and turn from evil, it wouldn’t be. But,
to the one who intimately knows God, as David knew God, eternity with
him could not start too soon. After all, doesn’t the image of Laura
dancing on the Streets of Gold just seem to make sense? Doesn’t the
notion of Laura worshiping in the Throne Room of her Creator seem like
what she was made to do? Perhaps God saw fit that it was her time to
cross over? I certainly do not believe that God does terrible things to
people, but there is evidence in Scripture to support the notion that he
allows terrible things to happen. This, of course, does not mean that
he is not sovereign or good. As Isaiah 58 explains…
“His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than ours.”
Perhaps she truly had accomplished all he had planned for her to do in
twenty short years? Now, Laura is completely free. And we will see her
again, just not yet. Truly, she glorified her Creator in her life and
her death, as Paul says. One of my all-time favorite movies is
Braveheart. In it, the lead character, William Wallace, is to be
executed for fighting for his people’s freedom. When asked if he was
afraid of his looming death, his reply was simply, “
All men die. Not all men really live.”
Laura really lived. When people ask me how I knew Laura, my simple
reply is that I was her 7th grade math teacher. What did I teach Laura? I
suppose I taught her some math facts, along with around 1,500 other
students that I have taught in my eleven years of teaching middle
school. When people ask what did Laura teach me? I suppose I would have
to answer them the following:
Laura reminded me to enjoy God. I gave my life to God at a young age, and I truly love him; however, I can’t say that I have always taken time to
enjoy him.
The picture comes to mind of a boy and his father fishing, or a
daughter going for ice cream with her loving earthly father. Now that I
am entering a stage of my life where busyness and cynicism seem to
dominate my thoughts more than ever, the sweet words of that “
old soul” ring true in my heart: “
I love my life.”
She truly loved her life and enjoyed her God. She is still loving life
and enjoying God- now more than ever. May we all learn to live like
Laura.
-Ron McCullough
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