by Valarie Fish
Snippets of news came through with the message to pray for the family. Eventually, the official word came that a brain aneurysm had claimed the life of a young mother I know quite well. So many people have been devastated by the news.
The prayer chain for another lit up the same week as a friend from college had a setback with his fight against cancer that had been ravaging his otherwise healthy body. The doctors had given him months to live, and he made it two years before he told his wife and son it was time to go home.
Two friends in the same week.
The biggest difference between Katy and Sean: Sean had time to prepare for the end of life. He knew the statistics for surviving pancreatic cancer weren’t very high. His own father had died of the same horrible disease. We prayed and we hoped as he fought but eventually the poison attacking his cells overwhelmed. But cancer didn’t defeat Sean because he now stands triumphantly with his earthly father and his heavenly Father. Sean beat cancer and he beat the rest of us to heaven.
Katy left us with no warning. I remember when she was born and what a blessing she was to her parents. I watched her grow up. She married another local boy that I also watched grow up. Together they have two beautiful children. Such potential cut short in the prime of her life. Katy’s organ donation benefited 7 different recipients but left her babies without a mom. It’s hard to think of any bright side other than she is in the presence of her Savior Jesus.
“Get your affairs in order.” That’s what the doctors told Sean – and that is what Sean did.
“There’s nothing we can do. She’s gone.” That’s what the doctors told Katy’s family.
What Katy and Sean have in common: They both were passionate about sharing the gospel of Jesus with everyone they knew. Sean was even more bold about sharing his hope in Christ as his body declined. Katy lived her life with the purpose of sharing the love of God in every way possible.
I think they both knew there was no greater outcome than to have told the people you love about heaven and how to get there. For Sean, getting his affairs in order meant telling his family, friends, and anyone he met that this life is not the end. He had hope in eternal life and he wanted everyone to know how to have that hope for themselves.
And Katy. Katy didn’t know she would soon be gone but even so there was an urgency in the way she lived. Sure, she had plans and dreams, but she prioritized sharing the gospel of Jesus and she lived her short life in a way that reflected God’s love for everyone she encountered.
I want to live like that. I want to have my affairs in order. I want to make sharing the gospel a priority for however many days God has chosen for me to live. Showing the people I love how to have a relationship with God is the only thing of value I can take with me to my heavenly home where Katy and Sean will be waiting. Whether I have time to prepare or the end comes to me suddenly, I want my “go-bag” to be filled with people I have pointed to know Jesus.
