Eulogy

 

Rick Bell was a father. A husband. A brother. A son.

A provider. A protector A Step dad. And a Grandpa

He was a gift giver. a smiler. A teacher. An Uncle. And a snorer.

He was a friend, a mentor. And a man who folded clothing much too neatly.

Nostalgic.

An encourager. Advice giver. A dreamer and adventurer.

A truck driver. A beer drinker, a teller of bad jokes and a afternoon napper on occasion.

Small footed. Horse loving, talker. And observer.

A teller of life stories…over and over… and over. A man full of great memories.

A leader, A man. And a child of God.

Rick Bell was and is loved.

Brian and Shannon's Wedding

Our meeting last week. He got to play with Caleb and Sylvia cuddled Benjamin. Great memory.

My wedding day.

This is how I mourn.

This is my way of mourning. I write. Its the way I empty it out and gather it up and empty it out again.

For those who may not know my dad, Rick passed away this weekend. Between the waves of emotion I started to understand why David, when he lost his son from Bathsheba, got up from mourning and began to praise God. 

Sometimes, when it hurts like a freight train. That's it. That's all there is is Him. Nothing can fill that void. But how amazing is the reassurance of his saving grace. A bitter sweetness.

As I go through this time and gather the memories together I have. I find such hope in my Lord. I can not go where he has gone right now but my Lord is there with him. Him and his TWo legs. 

What a beautiful picture I have settled in of him, tossing of the weight of those crutches and walking with Jesus.

Faith Camping 2011

 

Well I've been given my husbands blessing on my new adventure. 3 days in the wilderness of the bruce trail with no food except what I fish or find or catch or schmoose out of some kindly campers.

What are you doing? you may ask?

A faith trip. A time for me to rely on God's provision. And maybe God will provide no food. Or maybe I'm going to be blogging the most awesomest trip ever! 

Where did I ever come up with such an idea. Well!

I always had this inner child dream of just setting off for a weekend. Actually when I was a teen I thought it'd be cool to go for a summer. Just hit the road. What's on your back kinda adventure. Now that I serve God there is this other story I read a while back of a missionary learning about "faith in God". So the college he's at makes teams go out, complete a task that they have nothing to complete with, and return back to the college a few days later. And the story ends that God provided everything is really cool ways. Just to note at this point is that, God didn't have to. It wasn't life or death or anything like that. But He took the opportunity given to Him to stretch a servants faith.

I too want to give God the opportunity to stretch my faith and give me some time in the woods for time to just listen to Him. 

So, 3 days on the trails. no food, but i'll have a fishing rod. Aqua pills to clean the water and a filter bag. tarp, blanket,hammok. All need to be easily packed as I'll be carrying them. 

My biggest fear is not wild animals or breaking my leg and laying somewhere for dead. My biggest fear is the dark. Yep. Like a little child. The dark still gets me. 

 

But I've loved a verse I've learned lately from John 1:5

"There is a light in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it."