A new face in heaven...

My dear colleague and friend like-a-brother, Mark Walz got to go home tonight. Home to the Savior that he had given his life to. Home to a healing that is complete and permanent after nearly 5 years of a valiant fight with cancer.
Mark was the associate pastor when my father served at Park UMC in Lexington. Mark was young and single and bursting with creative energy. There was no such thing as a routine children's sermon with Mark Walz around. He was funny, entertaining, gifted and deeply committed to winning others to Christ. He had a charm that was contagious and a humility that kept him grounded.
He was very effective in ministry and became very close to both my parents. Mark and my mother shared a gift of hospitality. They were always swapping recipes and ideas. And Mark had enough creative ideas to always keep things moving. He had a very vital youth and young adult ministry at Park and, in these years of shared ministry, became part of our family. Later, he became the chaplain at Pikeville Methodist Hospital where my sister was a neonatologist. Two summers ago, Mark came to Charlotte for surgery and, although I was recovering from major surgery myself, I didn't think twice about saying that, of course, he could recuperate in my home until he was strong enough to travel back to Kentucky. We were family.
We were pitiful together. I was just recovering from surgery for a pancreatic tumor when he came for his surgery. While neither one of us had much strength, because our hearts are anchored in God, we had a profound awareness of how precious life is -- both life on this earth and for all eternity. The wealth of shared history, family connections, common experiences in ministry and commitment to Christ was good medicine. We trusted completely God's healing hand, no matter what was coming.
Although Mark died tonight, nothing changed--for either of us--about that complete trust that our lives, in God's hands are safe. Mark lived and died completely trusting his life to Jesus. God does not let us down when death comes. God is providing a healing more extensive than anything this world can offer.
For someone as creative as Mark, I can't help but smile afresh about the idea of heaven. He'll be having a ball and only God knows what he will be instigating and enjoying in perfect wholeness. Having endured incessaat indignaties that are inherent in surgeries and cancer treatments, he will feel like a bird out of a cage. My heart is more celebrative than sorrowful. And I am so grateful for companions on the Christian journey. One more familiar face in heaven...so much to live for!

My flowers talked back...

When I got home tonight--full heart, tired body, I discovered that my flowers looked as tired as I felt. When I went out to water, my tiredness set in and I could feel myself scolding all the pots that needed watering.

"We have had lots of rain..."I was thinking...and, almost as if the flowers could talk back came the thought, "Yes, we have had lots of rain...last week, two weeks ago, three weeks ago....but not recently. In fact, not a drop in the past week. What makes you think that a good rain two weeks ago can nourish us now?"

Ouch.

Our spiritual lives are the same way. Devotions or prayer time that we had a month ago--even rich moments with the Lord--can't keep us flourishing spiritually indefinitely. The meal that we ate a week ago doesn't stop us from being hungry today. Churches that flourished decades ago and then refused to change seem surprised that they are drooping today.

Our United Methodist emphasis on Christian perfection is just the nourishing theological foundation to keep us alive spiritually. We know -- we emphasize--we remind ourselves that continuous spiritual growth is essential. And when we fail to let God's Spirit water our souls, we droop...we really droop.

My flowers have been gorgeous this summer. When they droop, I can see the difference.

Lives are no different.

Living things need care...

Flowers from my back yard....

When it's dry, I need to do the watering.

When God provides the rain, I need to do the weeding.

Every living thing needs care and tending to be beautiful.