One of my favorite verses is Romans 12:15.

It says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

It has come to mean a lot to me over my life. I have seen some hard times and some good times, and this verse has shown me how to be a friend to those in hard times and also how to be a friend in good times. This week I lost a friend. The world lost a beautiful, vibrant woman of God whose name was Michelle. This is one of those hard times in my life. I don’t understand why God chose this time to take her home, she was too young to leave us all behind and especially her young son, husband and daughter. When things like this happen we like to ask why. I sure have. But I realize that even if I knew why God chose this time for her home-going, it wouldn’t make the pain any less. I am not meant to understand and I cannot. I have accepted this is God’s timing and even if I don’t like it, it is.

So, what now? I would say that we should remember her as she would have wanted to be remembered. She was a true friend and was with me during one of my darkest times. I had just lost my first baby and had come home from the doctor’s office just a few hours before and somehow she found out what had happened. She came to my house and came in the front door and just hugged me. She didn’t say anything, because she knew what I was going through. She had experienced it herself and she knew no words could make it any better. She just hugged me and cried with me. She wept with me as I wept. I will always remember her as a woman who was so in touch with God that she always knew just the right moment to send a card, or call you on the phone or show up at your house. She loved other people and she was there for them when they needed her most. That is her legacy. She loved God will all her heart and I think she would want us to do the same.  Most of all, to weep with each other, and when we are out of tears she would want us to laugh with one another too as we remember the good moments we had with her. I am thrilled for her and rejoice at her home going in that she is now in heaven. She is no longer dealing with the pain and suffering that this world brings, but has rest and peace. What better place for a true worshiper like her than to be in heaven. In the days ahead, for all of you who are weeping, and especially her family, I have no words to make it any better. I will not try to make this easier, I cannot. It is so hard to have someone go on to heaven before you and before you thought they should, but all I can say is I weep with you.