Life And Then Death

We were rejoicing over Eva's birth when we heard that our friend Stewart had died in a water skiing accident. He was barefoot water skiing backwards when he hit the pier and died instantly. I was just getting to know Stewart. We've shared a lot of things together over the last six months in a Christian healing class. He was my group leader and he made it so comfortable to share our deepest hurts and disappointments. We had two people drop out of the course so in the end it was just 4 of us together weekly talking, sharing, and praying together. I felt like I had known him all my life. He was as his pastor described him, "everyone's best friend". He was probably the most passionate Christian man I'd ever met. He had such fire and zeal for God. I was looking forward to more opportunities to sit and learn from him.

He and his wife Rachel were married 8 years, no children yet, and were in the process of building , from scratch, their dream "log cabin" home. The picture above is Stewart preparing a log for one of his roof joist. His funeral was this past Friday. Rachel, his wife, had the strength to speak and shared a love letter she had written to him last year. She told us how she wanted to die the moment Stewart died and had it not been for her friends who held her closely, she probably would be dead herself. She shared how after praying for 48 hour straight, the Holy Spirit "infused" her with strength she knew wasn't her own. This strength helped her wake up every day and gave her the will to live.

She said during her marriage she had difficulty putting God first, and that she was always fearful of Stewart dying. She shared this with Stewart and he told her that she needed to trust God to be her Rock. So Stewart and Rachel prayed for this together. She thought it was ironic that her husband helped her prepare for his death.

I can't even fathom Rachel's loss. I feel like I've lost a brother, how much more would a loss of a husband must be? There was a large altar call at his funeral, it would have been what Stewart wanted. He wanted people to know his Jesus. His death really makes me examine my own walk with the Lord. Stewart really wanted his death to be a celebration and party, that people would walk out rejoicing the Lord, not mourning his death. I'm trying not to mourn....