He Waved Good-Bye

 

In other posts I've referred to a delightful friend and fellow church member who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a couple months ago. He passed away recently and

is starting 2026 pain free!  We are preparing for his celebration life service.

Shortly after the diagnosis I suggested to his daughter that they have a family photo shoot while he still felt up to it. He requested that they take a picture of him waving good-bye!  A family member took that wonderful photo and made it into what his "going towards the light" might look like.  It will always be one of my favorite remembrances of the vibrance of his faith and the encouragement he wanted to leave his family.

The best is yet to come as told in 1 Corinthians 15:52.

"But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!"

These are the songs our friend choose for his service.

The Songs

"Christ is Enough"  Hillsong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEGT8lrNyvw

and

"Blessed Assurance" Elevation Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOFu4FKTeks