Tag Archives: Eternity

A LIFE WELL LIVED

Emotions flooded my heart as I was leaving the park where a garden had been placed in honor of my treasured friend, Lori, who passed to her eternal home seven months ago. Lori’s family created a gorgeous flower garden and dedicated it this weekend in memory of their beloved wife, mom, daughter, and sister.

Heaven gained an amazing soul in 2017, and all who knew Lori lost a one-of-a-kind treasure. During the months since Lori’s death, I’ve pondered how she impacted me.

Lori was a childhood friend whom I was out of touch with for a season until we reconnected through social media in recent years. Lori was one of the first girls I met when I moved from Florida to Georgia in the sixth grade. As the new girl at school, I was given a heaven-sent blessing in becoming friends with Lori. I have precious memories of spending time with her when she was a giggly girl. We enjoyed fun times of laughter together, going to the lake, and hanging out at my house as grammar school girls.  Lori is in the photo below at my 12th birthday celebration.

During our first year of high school, I was inspired by Lori’s love of books. She was smart, but what stood out the most about Lori was her pure heart. She held a strength and wisdom that many do not possess until later in life. She was steady, loyal, kind, and she did not have a need to try to be popular or cool.

Lori obviously had a close connection with God from an early age and she had a genuine concern about others. The love she drew from her close relationship with Christ overflowed out of her heart onto the lives of every person she met.

After attending several years in high school with Lori, I moved to another school and rarely saw her anymore. Then following our high school years, I briefly reconnected with Lori and she wrote some letters to me while she was away at college. Lori’s kindhearted, caring heart was obvious even in her written letters. During that season of corresponding through letters, I was married, settling into a new home and somehow our correspondence fell away.

With our lives changing due to marriage, our friendship slipped away and we did not stay connected as friends for several decades. Thankfully in our forties, Lori found me on Facebook and reached out to me with a very loving message. It felt like a miracle to reconnect with her. After we reconnected, I wrote the following message: “As I look back over my life, you were truly one of the sweetest friends I’ve ever had. I’m thankful to the Lord for reconnecting us.” The words I wrote to Lori are true—she was indeed one of the sweetest friends ever. I’m incredibly grateful to have had a soul like hers touch my life.

Choosing from all of Lori’s strengths, I believe it was her consistent, steadfast devotion to Christ throughout her life that made her such a beautiful soul. In the midst of her excruciating battle of fighting cancer, Lori drew closer to Christ instead of turning away from Him in her suffering. She leaned on Christ with a heart filled with faith and her devoutness to Him was revealed in every aspect of her existence. Lori was faithful and she was a Proverbs 31 woman in every sense of the word.

Christ has used Lori’s death as a catalyst for me to walk with a fierce determination for living a life fully set a part for the glory of God. It’s as though her death is propelling me into my destiny and giving me an even more fiery passion to share about the redeeming love of Christ with as many people as possible.

When it’s all said and done, nothing else matters more than loving Christ and loving people. Love is truly what this world needs more than anything else. Lori loved well and lived her life well as she loved others deeply, pouring out herself into the lives of many. Her legacy is truly one defined by Christ’s love.

We are all simply passing through this earth for a short time and we get one shot at leaving an eternal impact on the world. The Bible says in James 4:14: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

With Christ’s help, we can all live with a singleness of heart all the days of our lives. May these words about my childhood friend touch your heart and prompt you to live with purpose—to build a lasting legacy of love with the life you’ve been given.

Lori will forever be in my heart and her impact will last for eternity.

Lori Stovall LaPlatney

    August 8, 1965 – November 11, 2017

KEEPING FOCUSED ON THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST

jesus-we-look-to-you

After spending too much time reading articles about do-it-yourself projects, a thought came bursting into my head: “I’m done! I’m done with wasting time on trivial things.” A zealous determination rose up in my spirit like I’ve never had before.

In the previous months, I had spent so much of my time on repainting walls and restoring furniture instead of working on the things I knew God desired for me to do.

Creating beauty in my home and inviting people over for meals are two of my greatest passions. Creating a pretty home is not a bad thing, but it can be a burdensome thing if it begins stealing my focus away from eternal things.

Over and over again, the Lord has reminded me of the words in James 4:14: “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

In the blink of an eye, our time of passing through this earth is over. Do I really want to be known for being the “Home Project Expert” when I’m gone? No. I want to be remembered mainly for the love and encouragement I’ve sewn into lives.

How do we stay focused on eternal things when there are so many mundane things tugging at our minds? I think we sometimes need to reassess our priorities. That’s what I had to do. I had to stop reading decorating blogs and stop watching decorating shows. Those things were just feeding my desire to do more projects.

To be completely clear, I’m not saying I will never do another project around my house. I’m sure I will tackle a home project again in the future, but I’ve chosen not to make it a high priority.

After resetting my priorities, I don’t feel the pressure to rip down the bathroom wallpaper that’s nearly two decades old. One hundred years from now, whether or not I updated my bathroom will not matter.

Our relationships with people and with Christ will matter eternally. The time we spend seeking to find God’s assignments for each of our lives and the time spent helping others will be what lasts forever.

What new thing is Christ calling you to do that will have an eternal impact? Are you called to work with elderly people, start a ministry for foster children, or use your gift of music to uplift people?

Will you join me in seeking wholeheartedly to know Christ’s heart better and go passionately after the things that will have an eternal impact? Whatever it is any of us are called to do, Christ will give us faith and help us to stay focused on what matters most as we keep our eyes focused fully upon Him.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” Hebrews 12:2

A SACRED EXPERIENCE

Mema and Amy

My beloved grandmother, Mema, has woven love through every fiber of my being since I was born. Shortly, she will be leaving her earth suit to go to her eternal home, and that love will remain deeply embedded in my soul forever and ever. Nine days ago, she moved into a hospice facility to spend her last days on the earth.

There is something tremendously holy about being present during the dying process of a saintly, peaceful person. It has been a sacred experience. Heaven has come down and touched the earth in that pretty, pale yellow hospice room.

As Mema’s body has weakened, her spirit has grown stronger. I’ve witnessed the power of God over and over again during my daily visits on these consecrated days. Without the ability to speak words any longer, Mema has opened her eyes and smiled at me numerous times as I’ve spoken to her and prayed over her. I’ve known it’s her way of responding to me non-verbally.

While sitting near her bed in the hospice room, her eyes have opened and she nodded her head at times as I’ve spoken to her and caressed her hair. I think my favorite moments this week were when her face lit up brightly and she blinked distinctively each time I said, “I love you.” It felt as though it was her way of saying, “I love you, too.”

The nurses and doctors have been very compassionate and listened as I shared my heart and said, “She’s ninety-five, almost ninety-six years old and she’s ready to go. I can’t complain about Mema’s soon passing,” It was September, 2013 when Mema told me: “I am ready to go any time; I’ve had a really blessed life.” God began preparing my heart then and gave me two and a half bonus years to savor.

There’s a part of my heart that wants to hold Mema here on the earth, but in my spirit I know it’s her time to go. I’m letting her go with my heart enveloped in an indescribable peace. Jesus is holding my heart in His hands while He’s holding Mema in His arms simultaneously. I am praising Him for making Mema’s life and her death so beautiful.

My heart is filled with gratitude for the countless visits with her—especially during the past five years. During these final days, I’m honored to help bring her comfort through her time of transition. Today, I can imagine the angels are singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” over the soon homecoming of my sweet grandmother.

“We don’t focus on the things that can be seen but on the things that can’t be seen. The things that can be seen don’t last, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:18