You give and take away

This afternoon, after a full morning of radiation treatments, a CTscan, and a doctor's visit, Dave and I attended the memorial service for my former student, Rebecca Carlson. She entered her real home a week ago Saturday, at the age of 16, after a year's difficult battle with lymphoma. It was good to grieve with brothers and sisters in Christ, and to remember this dear little sister in the Lord, reflect upon her brief journey, and marvel at what the Lord did in and through her. Hugging her parents in person today, after so many months of hugging them in my heart, was like a balm to my soul, as were the tears that I couldn't seem to stop shedding. Jennie and Neil, Becca's parents, went out of their way to make sure others were thanked and appreciated, even in this, their time of incredible grief. Christ just shone from them.

Pastor Mark Lincoln gave an encouraging message of Truth. He reminded us that God is, indeed, sovereign, even over every single cancer cell that destroyed Becca's life. We walk by faith, believing He did this for our good and His glory, but Becca is now in the realm of sight. She is in the presence of the Lord. But even that is not our final hope: she will be raised in a new body when Christ returns, along with us all who belong to Christ, and we will be together. That is why we can grieve, but at the same time have hope. He pointed out that our "present light and momentary afflictions", as 2 Cor. 4 puts it, do not always look so light and momentary to us. But now Becca has eternity's perspective. THey are light and momentary for her as she has received the great weight of glory reserved for her in Jesus. What a glorious thought!

So we cried, and worshiped our great God. We sang and hugged, and remembered. It was a blessed time of rich fellowship.

One of the songs we sang was especially requested by Becca to be sung at this service. That gave the words even more focus and meaning!

Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed be your name,
In the land that is plentiful,
Where your streams of abundance flow,
Blessed be your name.

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessed be your name.

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me,
When the world's all as it should be,
Blessed be your name.

Blessed be your name,
On the road marked with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering,
Blessed be your name.

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, Still I will say,
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be your holy name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be your glorious name.

You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord blessed be your name!

Goodbye, sweet Becca, until we meet in eternity.