See You Later

No one is ever ready to say goodbye, I don't think, especially when it wasn't a planned goodbye.  I am still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that "goodbye" needed to be said at all. 

How do you say goodbye to a friend that would motivate you, straighten you out, push you, and tell it to you like it really is?  How do you say goodbye to a friend that fought for you, prayed for you, stormed Heaven's gates for you?  How do you say goodbye to a friend that held your husband accountable and who was held accountable by your husband?  I don't know... I haven't really figured it out yet.

Jim, you were an amazing person.  You were a true warrior for God.  When you set your sights on something, you ran for it, no matter what.  You always called at just the right time, with a word of encouragement or, shall we say, motivation.  You believed with us for what many would say is impossible, and you prayed daily for it, and for us.  Yesterday, someone said that everything you did and were about was over the top.  It was so true!  Your personality and presence would fill a room as soon as you walked in.  You motivated to the fullest, encouraged to the fullest, pushed to the fullest, and you definitely would never take any crap.  You'd call us up and ask if we've been doing what we are supposed to be doing - whether spiritual or physical - and just as soon as the "uh..." would come out of my mouth, your response was "don't even give me any of that!  I already know the answer already!  Get on the ball!"  I've already found myself jumping off the elliptical in a tired, panting mess, thinking, "wait til I tell Jim I actually got back on it!"  Then I remembered I can't.

If anything, your death has caused us to step it up a little, to be more serious about doing what we are supposed to, what we are called to, what is good for us, what is right, because, as this week has proved, you just never know... So, Jim, thank you for the mark that you left on my family's life.  None of us will ever be the same.  We will push a little harder, fight for what is right with a little more passion, storm Heaven's gates a little more faithfully.  I won't say goodbye, but "see you later" instead.