Paul with his family
Today is Paul’s birthday but he is not here. Too soon after this photo was taken he died, having endured a cruel and fatal disease. His life seemed perfect in every way. Wife, parents, children too young to understand, siblings and friends were all crushed by God upon the death of my only brother and best friend.
I am so grateful for his life though. He didn’t leave this world like a snuffed wick but with a legacy of faith and courage. His testimony and encouraging words live on in the many hearts he touched through his letters….
“…although I may have cancer, there are MANY reasons to praise God. I can start by thanking Him for the most wonderful parents…”
“I have complete faith in God to help me weather storms when they come.”
“There is no better source of comfort than you will find in Christ’s Word.”
“I have read several times that all of Heaven rejoices when a man’s soul is saved, and hell trembles…Submit to God, repent, and God will not forsake you.”
“I know full well that my life is in the Hands of the Lord. He has the keys to the car, and I am going along for His ride…”
We don’t need a birth date to remember Paul.
I often think of the Lord’s birth, the greatest ever upon this earth, and yet He purposefully kept it obscure and unknown throughout the ages. We marvel at Christ’s life, are humbled by His atoning death for our sins, and in reconciling with God, rejoice at the promise of eternal life in His Kingdom.
Some birthdays are celebrated, some stand as landmarks of lives already passed. Today I remember my beautiful brother and celebrate his life in Christ, knowing that we will reunite in God’s Kingdom. In John 11:25, Jesus said:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
No Happy Birthday….Happy Forevermore.
Crushed By God 
I am so very, very sorry. Paul was such a wonderful person.
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Paul and Julie came to my restaurant so many times to celebrate all of their special times in theirblives…i always felt so honored…I remember Paul was embarking on a new career and he was so excited! Such a tragedy to lose such an anazing great person… He is forever in my memory with fondness and love..
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I had the privilege of cooking for Paul and Julies many milestones…I remember paul was ready too embark on a new career and was so excited…He was a wonderful kind person and I could see the spirit of God dwelled within him…So many great times I remember with both of them…The heavens gained a mighty angel and we lost an amazing man…
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Have you read Bob Sorge’s book, “Fire of Delayed Answers”? It will explain a lot.
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Thank you for your comment. That book is very encouraging. I have read so many books on suffering that I may include a page listing such resources. I do
believe that grief and mourning are very real experiences to express, as the Lord Himself demonstrated with tears and anguish. Later, even with the assurance of eternal life, “Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.” (Acts 8:2). True, ours is a grief without despair, undergirded with the living hope of the Lord’s purposes. Thank you again for your helpful comment and thanks for visiting my blog!
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I’ve been crushed too. I’ve gravitated to know God better & to understand why. Yesterday I read this: In the closing moments of this age, the Lord will have a people whose sole purpose for living is to please God with their lives. The Lord will take them farther and through more pain and conflicts than other believers. Outwardly, they’ll seem ‘smitten of God, and afflicted,’ as it says in Isaiah 53, yet to God, they are His beloved. When they are crushed, like the petals of a flower, they will exude a worship, the fragrance of which is so beautiful and rare that angels will weep in quiet awe at their surrender to the Lord.
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Thank you for sharing those encouraging thoughts,there is much truth in them.
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[…] Almost everyone in this fallen world can testify of an “untimely death”, as do I, recalling my brother’s death at age 38. (Noted in this post) […]
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