sweet, sweet, Sweet

I sat around a room of 50 or so Children's ministry and Youth ministry workers last night. This was a meeting that had been planned previously, but it had taken on new meaning. Our Children's minster, pillar of our church, loved by all had gone home to be with the Lord that morning. It was a joy to hear how people had been touched by God through her, how she made working in Children's ministry a joy, and how we are a better church because of it. It reminded me of Hebrews 12. After a lengthy list of examples from the ancestors of the Israelites, the author of Hebrews drops this gem:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

See, its not secret God puts people in our lives as an example. I have had many such examples, living and passed, who've personified different aspects of Christian faith to me. My late Pastor Ryan, who from a wheelchair due to childhood Polio, proclaimed Jesus until cancer took his life. Even as his body was breaking, as long as his lungs had breath, Jesus was on his lips. It sometimes seems impossible to live up to the "great cloud" that God put before us. I remind myself how "normal" the great men of the Bible were, but always end up asking myself, do I serve for ME? or for Him?

I thank God for people like Sweet and Pastor Ryan, and am so grateful for moments like last night when our church realizes the example set before us. Sweet, you meant a lot to this Church and continue to be an example of service, humility, and love. You will be missed.