Went to another funeral today. This is either the seventh or eighth since May. Several had been dear friends, and the rest I would say were more than acquaintances, they were friends. It is very hard when you lose someone. A few years ago, my father-in-law passed away a couple of days before Christmas. A few years before that, my father died.

When my father-in-law, David, died, his parents were still alive. His mother was well enough to go to the funeral, his dad had to stay home. Within a couple of years, both of them died, also.

When my dad died, it was the first time I had seen a dead body. I was 43 years old. Since then, I have seen way too many, and two have died with me right there.

Another disheartening aspect of all this is the many who have died shortly after I visited them. Pastor Bob started calling me the "angel of death" and told me not to visit him when HE was sick. Four people in the last six months have died within 36 hours of a visit from me. I know that it isn't really me that is causing the deaths, it is God and his timing on all of this. It has been draining on me, emotionally, but I know that people receive comfort from my visits along with the prayers and readings from the word.

Why am I sharing all this with you? I think it s to get things off my mind, ease the strain, relieve myself of the weariness.

God has put me in this role as an elder, and I do it with joy. (odd thing to say, but doing the work God has set out for you IS a joy)