Till We Meet Again

Tomorrow I’m going to a funeral. I’m not excited about it at all, of course. Yet, I feel compelled to attend. Not just because I ought to. Even though I should go and support the surviving family and friends. One of our female students from more than 10 years ago has passed away unexpectedly. Jenny was a great girl, a real servant. She was one of the first students to jump in and do whatever needed to be done. She was quiet, yet she spoke up when she needed to. She spent quite a lot of time at our house and I got to know her fairly well while she was in high school and in college. She struggled with a lot of things young girls do. Fitting in, finding her place, seeking God’s will for her life. Yet, through her struggles she persevered and continued to follow Christ.

In the last couple of years, although single and still a little shy, she moved across the country and got a job as a landscape architect. It still amazes me how independent she could be, as quiet as she was. She was doing well. She found a church on her own, jumped right in, and became part of that fellowship. She found a place to serve on their sound team. What an inspiration!

So, even though I “ought” to go to this funeral, I really want to. Jenny wasn’t just a former youth group member. She became a friend of mine, someone who touched my life, someone whose journey influenced my journey. Even though I haven’t seen her for a few years, I feel a great sense of loss. I want to go to say goodbye and to celebrate her life.

Tonight I found the Christmas letter we received from her this year. She mentioned all the things she had been doing the past couple of years. I remember smiling as I read it in December, thinking about how great it was she was doing so well and so glad that she was part of a church fellowship. This time, however, the way she signed the letter jumped right off the page as I reread the letter. She wrote, “Till we meet again.” I chuckled a little, even with a tear in my eye, thinking about how appropriate that sign off was. We will meet again! She is just a little ahead of the rest of us, moving to her ultimate home. A friend of ours said she is probably helping someone move a couch right now. And that is the most comforting thought I can think of right now.