What will you become?

Last week was quite a challenging week with all the news of loss.  So many friends lost loved ones.  So many of us are losing parents.  I received a call last week from a co-worker telling me that a friend had lost her father.  She is an only child and she lost her mother a couple of years ago. 

Although I am now retired, I think of my friends often.  We shared many things in life through the work place.  Births, graduations, marriage, kids, college late in life, grandkids and now loss. 

My husband and I made the decision to attend the memorial in support of my dear friend Pamela.  I have known her several years and found her to be a dedicated, committed woman.  We loved her parents through the stories she told.  In fact, I would often go in search of elephant trinkets for her mom as she liked elephants. 

Many individuals came to a packed church to honor Pamela's father.  Words spoken included those that honored his love of God, his love of music, and the love of his precious daughter.  The pastor spoke of his sweet smile in the congregation and his commitment to serving in the church and lastly, he spoke of how he doted on his only child, his daughter.  He spoke of how he supported her despite any adversity she might have faced and how he walked alongside her. 

The pastor then spoke of how Pamela lost her mother and how she lived for her father.  He spoke of how Pamela took her father into her own home and cared for him when he was not longer able to do it himself.  The sentence that impacted me most was when the pastor said "...She doted on him - she became what he was."

Isn't that our goal?  To become like our father?  Our heavenly Father dotes on us, He loves us, He cares for us, He know our hurts and cradles us through them, He never fails us, He walks with us, and his ultimate sacrifice, He died for us. 

While we justify our actions with empty words like "I can't forgive her" or "You don't know what I have to deal with" or "I just don't have time to go visit him at the hospital" can we die to self? Can we become like Him?  My prayer today is that I will be an example of Christ and I will become what He was and continues to be! 

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2

In memory of Mr. Paul Wagner
August 15, 1926-April 25, 2013