Remembering to Have Hope

I was just talking to Matt, Devin and Sarah about this the other night. The fact that it feels like Tyler is getting further and further away. I am growing up. I am now 28 years old and I was 23 when he died. He will forever be 19 years old. He won't ever get older. When my nieces and nephews grow up and are 19 years old....Tyler will still be 19 as well. It is a very strange thing. And, if makes me miss him so much, because without new memories to add to the mix, it feels like he is slipping away.

He was such a godly man who wanted to share Christ's love. He especially wanted to share Christ's love with young kids. He wanted to be a teacher/coach so that he could impact young kids for Christ. Don't get me wrong, he had his flaws. But, Tyler was one of the best men I've ever known. He had a huge heart and a ready smile. He was kind and compassionate. And he had a very easy and natural sense of humor that made almost anyone laugh. I miss him. I rejoice that he is in heaven because he knew Jesus Christ as his savior.

I recently listened to a podcast by Paul David Tripp through the Village Church website. It was a sermon on Isaiah 59 and hope. Two things that he said that really impacted me were, "hope is found through the door of hopelessness" and "when you give up on horizontal hope, then you're ready to find real hope", which is a hope in Jesus Christ. He talked about how we attempt to place our hope horizontally, in people and in things of this earth. But those things will ALWAYS let us down at one time or another. But hope comes when we realize that we are sinful and we need Jesus Christ, and when we place our hope, faith and trust in Him. I am so thankful that I have this hope.