To Home and back again...

I recently had to go home for the funeral of a wonderful man of God, and my former youth pastor Gary Storms. Gary had a great impact on who I am today, in that I am a Christian today partially because of his influence, and so it was really hard to think about him no longer being in this world. All the way home I was thinking of all of the memories I had with him, retreats, conversations, just seeing his huge smile when I walked into a church on sunday morning. But interestingly enough, I kept coming back to this one thought that seemed so small, but I feel encompased all that is Gary: His Bible.

Gary's Bible, Never have I ever seen a book describe a person so well. He never left home without it, but to be honest I dont think he felt home anywhere else except for within it. It was the oldest, most worn and torn book that you would ever see, but Gary said that it had character, so did he. It creaked and cracked alot as you opened it, appearing as if this was some ancient piece of history, maybe the first bible ever made. It was falling apart (also like Gary) and would loose pages each time he opened it, there was practically nothing you could do to keep the Gospels inside of the binding, and its funny because there was nothing you could do to keep the Gospel inside of Gary either. Just as this Bible showed its years right there on the cover, with the folds and tears, the stains on the sides of the pages, and the binding broken several times, it still had a heart inside with a message more beautiful than the world had ever seen, and so did Gary. Gary had a connection to scripture that I have seen in no other person in my life and I will always remember and admire his very real and powerful connection to this precious word of God.

I returned back to school the monday following the funeral, to the mountain of work, tests, papers, and stress that I knew was waiting for me. It has been to some degree an emotional couple of weeks trying to let go and move on, but I have not been without help. I have had God to guide me and teach me, the God that Gary helped bring me to and I am now continuing that journey. God has also worked through the most important person in my life, my wonderful princess. She has been so helpful and loving, so supportive and strong for me and I could never in words thank her enough. I Love you Katie, now and always.

I will always remember the final lesson I learned from this beloved teacher. I learned it in his death, in reflecting on his life. We reflected on how he lived every day to the fullest, on how he would not let a day slip by without realizing that each was a blessing from God and was not to be wasted. I have been contemplating this ever since the funeral, about living every day to its fullest, trying to capture the magic that is within this seemingly simple minutes in between one busy moment to the next. To try as the celtic monastics would say to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. I Thank God for the ability to know and Love this man, to be mentored by him and taught by him, and I thank God that I will see him again, but for now, as Gary would say, "Its a good day to be alive."