-The Light of Navigation Series-
GOD AND THE GoFundMe
During the week of my
son's funeral, I had many young people come up to me and share with
me the impact my son had on their lives. As early as high school,
standing up for the unpopular, the forgotten, and ignored; lifting
them up to feel that they were so much more. Even up to the present
time in his life (he was 32), pulling others into an infectious light
of love and acceptance. He made those around him feel like they were
valued, and important. He lived life full-tilt, and judging from the
comments by so many who knew him, there was a ministry of
encouragement that was very apparent in his life. Several even
approached me to share how he had changed the very course of their
lives with his message of encouragement specifically for them.
Randall had passed away while visiting his grandparents in Pensacola Florida, and this was where we had to travel to lay him to rest. The evening of Oct. 2, 2016 (the same day as my son's death) my sister Mary shared with me that she felt impressed by God to start a GoFundMe account on facebook to try to raise the money needed for Randall's burial. The average funeral costs $10,00.00 to $11,000.00. I gave permission to go ahead and with what she felt God had laid on her heart to do. That evening the GoFundMe was set up and posted. I had misgivings about the GoFundMe. I felt it would be “iffy” at best, and did not really believe that it would be very fruitful to help me out financially. I decided though that if this was truly from God, He would work it out somehow. Trying to pay for this funeral with my own finances would have been a huge task and an additional monthly reminder for many years to come of Randall's passing that I did not want to endure. Mary and I flew out of Tulsa Oklahoma for Pensacola Florida the next morning.
Randall had passed away while visiting his grandparents in Pensacola Florida, and this was where we had to travel to lay him to rest. The evening of Oct. 2, 2016 (the same day as my son's death) my sister Mary shared with me that she felt impressed by God to start a GoFundMe account on facebook to try to raise the money needed for Randall's burial. The average funeral costs $10,00.00 to $11,000.00. I gave permission to go ahead and with what she felt God had laid on her heart to do. That evening the GoFundMe was set up and posted. I had misgivings about the GoFundMe. I felt it would be “iffy” at best, and did not really believe that it would be very fruitful to help me out financially. I decided though that if this was truly from God, He would work it out somehow. Trying to pay for this funeral with my own finances would have been a huge task and an additional monthly reminder for many years to come of Randall's passing that I did not want to endure. Mary and I flew out of Tulsa Oklahoma for Pensacola Florida the next morning.
On our flight layover
in Atlanta, Georgia, at 11 am the next day, Mary checked the GoFundMe
account. To our astonishment, a $4000.00 donation had been made, and
more was coming in. Donations were coming in from people in
Tennessee, Washington, Florida, Oregon, and also offshore in the Gulf
of Mexico (Randall had worked on an oil rig at one time). These were
all the areas Randall had either gone to school for secondary
education, or states where he had been employed over the last few
years, and had made many friends, and touched so many lives.
The
GoFundMe hit $10,000.00 in less than 36 hours.......
I reckon the
God who parted a Red Sea has no problem with GoFundMe.
Friends from Pasco,
Washington
