Sojourn

While away for the Thanksgiving holiday, I was told of a tragedy that happened just down the street from where I live. A woman was shot by her husband just before he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. Her lifeless body was found in a pool of her own blood. “Shot? What do you mean? Did she die?” I asked. The very breath in my lungs was robbed as the answer echoed through the phone and into my ear. “Yes, she died.” This news was shocking. What came next stopped me in my tracks. The murder victim…I knew her.

Her name was Dana. I didn’t know her well, but did know of her. I went to high school with her. She is gone now. Dead. Her temporary life here on earth is now over. As I think of her now, I see her smiling. It’s the familiar memory that plays in my mind of her. That smile is comforting. However, there is a sadness there as well. It may seem strange, but I mourn the loss of someone I hardly knew. My mind is consumed as to if she knew about the gift of Salvation.

A few days after receiving the news of this woman’s death. I learned of another seemingly untimely death. This one was that of a child. Eugine Wandera, at the tender age of 14, is dead. The small city of Busia, Kenya, suffered a great loss this week. This child, took his last breath just a few short days ago. He drowned while swimming in the Sio river. Two young boys out for a swim. One walked back home, the other came back in a coffin.

Eugine’s death broke my heart. Life. It is so short. It is here one second, and gone the next. As an orphan, what had he endured in life? It seemed so unfair. Who would purchase his coffin? Who would mourn this loss? I couldn’t shake the thought of how he never had the chance to live the life he deserved. Life as an orphan is tough. It’s unfair, and it nothing short of breaks my heart. There are so many just like him out there. They wait. They wait for a life most only dream of. A life with a forever family.

As always, I have questions. How many missed opportunities to be used in sharing the ultimate Gift, will be complied in my earthly sojourn. How many children will die today..children that you or I could have sponsored, adopted, prayed for, or whispered “Jesus Loves You” in their ear? Why is it so easy for us to look to the Lord with a perplexed and sometimes even angry expression as if to second guess or question His plan in things? He tells us to go out and spread the Good News. Yet, we don’t. When will we learn?

I remember not many years ago while in college, a young man committed suicide just a hundred yards from me. I was held in the building for hours before he pulled the trigger. I was trapped there. Told that I couldn’t leave because a gunman was in the parking lot. There were many of us. We were told to not walk by the windows and to remain low. Scared at first, but after hours past, we began to think about other things. About the time I was complaining to someone about my weekend plans. *Pop* Just like that. In an instant, he was dead. That moment changed my life. I realized then more than ever, how precious life was. That surreal moment was embodied with me superficially complaining about life, while a man so close by decided life wasn’t worth living anymore and ended his. I remember seeing his mother fall to her knees as the policeman told her that her son was dead. Something in me changed in that moment. Life never seemed so short.

Our sojourn. It’s packed full of opportunities to serve Him and to do it well. We don’t know how much time we have, so we best live life doing as much as possible right now. Reach out. Take a step. Share Christ’s love. Do it now. Do it tomorrow. Do it often. Make the difference in the life of someone else. Reach out your hand and just do it. Do something…do anything…time is short.