Yesterday I went to the funeral of Mark Olson. He was only 23 years old and died in a car accident on Friday. His brothers and friends were in United on Sunday so I wanted to go show my support. As I expected, the funeral was packed…I had to sit in a completely different room and just listen via the speakers in the main room to what was going on. What an awesome show of love and support to his family during an incredibly difficult time.
Then last night was my grandmother’s viewing. Being 84 years old and having had many of her friends pass away already, I expected maybe a few dozen people to show up during the 7pm-9pm time frame that had been set. Uhhh…no. We got there at 6:40pm and the people started coming…the line kept growing and growing…ringing the room…then down the hallway…then into the main lobby….then out the front door. For 2 1/2 hours the line remained like that. People were waiting 20-30 minutes to just make it through. We didn’t get everyone done until about 9:40pm.
Quite frankly I was shocked by how many people my grandmother had touched and how many friends my grandfather had who wanted to come out and support him. Considering the fact that the hospital had just released him the night before, he said that all the friends and family that came out were helping in his physical and emotional recovery tremendously.
Now for the prayer request. I’ll be preaching a part of the funeral this morning. I’ve tackled a lot of enormous tasks in my life but this may be the hardest. When my grandfather passed away 2 years ago we had a memorial service for him a month after his death and I led that, which was hard, but at least some time had passed…this is still pretty raw, so please, please, please, if you read this on Thursday morning, say a prayer for me at 11am as we get started. Thanks!
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