Impact

There's a lot going on with the COVID-19 spread, and it's given me time to just sit still and reflect on the impact we have on each other as humans.  Yesterday was a special day for two reasons - 1) my dad turned 90 and 2) I went to a funeral for my friend Letty who died of cancer.  Both of these people made an impact on my life in different ways. 

Dad (and Mom who is ironically also named Letty) raised me and showed me how to perform acts of love throughout my life.  Dad raised me to be pro-active: Look for ways to help instead of being asked to help.  Try to understand what others are going through and don't focus too much on your own problems.  Negotiation and compromise are good things that help everybody win.  Listen more and talk less.  And he did this while working as a teacher then administrator at the Berkeley Unified School District.  He was busy and went to a lot of meetings for work, played poker 2 nights a week and played golf on the weekends.... but I never felt he was absent through any of my childhood or youth.  When he retired, he and Mom took care of our kids two days a week.  They gave me a foundation of love that you cannot put a value on. 

Letty showed me in the 6-12 months that I've known her how to face cancer and death with the strongest of faith.  When my dad was in the hospital for intestinal twisting, she shared with me how her father also had that issue and was able to get through it.  Even though she was going through her own health issues, she made time for me.  And she showed me what it's like to not just live well, but to die well too.  Letty was only 46-47 years old and her passing reminded me that no one ever knows the number of their days, only God does.  When I saw Letty a few days before she passed, she was encouraging the other young ladies in our Small Group and reminding them how much they've grown in faith. 

When my mother-in-law died, my nephew said something that has stuck with me.  He said that one of his biggest regrets is that he didn't help his grandmother come to faith... but was grateful that she was baptized days before her passing.  Since then, I've been trying to subtly bring my parents, aunts and uncles to faith as they are all getting up in years.  God gave Letty and each of us time to make an impact and we shouldn't squander it.  Each day is a gift.