Starting in the right place...

Many years ago, at least 15, there was a devastating death that affected my church family. I know I was in high school and I know that it was really the first experience with death I had every encountered. In fact it might of been the first funeral I ever attended.

I had seen/known Steve Reynolds my whole life while growing up at Arcade. His parents were very active in the church and my mom was friends with his mother. Steve was a young father with three small children... their ages were like 5, 3 and 1. He lost his life in a drowning accident while on vacation with his family. It was and remains to be such a tragic story of a life gone too soon. I carried the prayer card for his family in my Bible for years... in fact I think it is still in my old Bible. When we get stuff out of storage I'll have to see.

There are 2 things I remember clearly about that funeral.

First, the church was packed. In fact I think there was over flow viewing in another room. For those of you unfamiliar with Arcade that means there were 1,000's of people there. I remember his grocery store co-workers lining the edge of the sanctuary in their matching vests. You see, Steve was a man that brought joy wherever he went... he had a ton of friends.

The second thing I remember is something that Steve's father, Lloyd shared. (It's been a while so this is a paraphrase, but I will do my best to get the words right.) He said:

In times like these, you must start by 

knowing and trusting that God is good.

And in knowing that God is good, you will find him in your trial. 

But if you start by dwelling on your trial, 

it will be nearly impossible to see how God is good. 

I have wrestled with this thought over and over through the years and it has proven to be a true statement for me.

So today my plan is to start with the idea that God is good... and I anticipate seeing him show up throughout the day in incredible ways.