GOD AND THE GoFundMe

-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.

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

GOD AND THE LIGHTHOUSE

-The Light of Navigation Series-

GOD AND THE LIGHTHOUSE

It was Sunday Oct. 2, 2016 and as I drove to church that morning God spoke to me about something so important for every believer to lay hold of in this “earth journey” we take. It was a combination of His words and pictures that He can use to reveal something.

I saw a tall majestic white lighthouse, it's light beaming brightly, just offshore from the main shoreline or beach, and it was built on a large rock area in the middle of a bay. There was a storm all around, with waves breaking against this lighthouse, and it was getting dark. I heard the Lord speak about “The Light of Navigation”. That He is the only true light of navigation in this life we live.

I looked again and also saw giant bonfires on a nearby beach and it's shoreline area (3 of them to be exact). The Lord shared with me about the pirates of long ago, and of the native inhabitants of some islands that would light large bonfires as a storm moved in, in hopes of luring an unsuspecting ship from the nearby shipping lanes toward shore. These pirates or natives knew that a dangerous reef area lay underwater in the bay and that passing ships would be trying to avoid an incoming storm's fierceness. By using the bonfires as a reference point of navigation to a possible safe-haven, unsuspecting ships would sail for what they thought was safe harbor and would be torn apart by the reef. After the ship was wrecked, all they had to do was wait for the ship's contents and treasures to wash ashore to take it.

We all experience shipwrecks or tragedies in life....they happen for many reasons. Some occur because we thought we had the Lord's direction on something and later realized it was not Him guiding us, or a massive tragedy occurs and we feel lost in it wondering where God is. I asked the Lord, “How do we know when the enemy is putting out a false light of navigation?” He said, “Most often, it is the quick, easy, or convenient path that is illuminated. And few see My light of navigation in the midst of the storm, as they're too busy trying to avoid the storm altogether.”

My pastor granted me permission to step forward and share this word of knowledge that morning with my fellow church members, just before his sermon began. I felt it was important for all to hear, not just myself. Two hours later, that afternoon, I was notified that my son Randall had died suddenly. He was 32 years old and my only child.

As I stood in a side room of the funeral home just before my son's funeral service on the following Saturday, Oct. 8^th, I looked around at family members standing there as well as the pall bearers attending. The hospice pastor officiating for the funeral service had insisted on stepping into this side room to pray for me and my family before the service began. There were so many side rooms in this funeral home and I had not seen this one before or even entered it. The pastor began his prayer by looking at me and pointing to an end table in the room as he spoke. He told me that Christ is my Light of Navigation through this storm in my life, and to stay focused on Him.

As I turned and looked at the end table, there sat a tall, white ceramic lighthouse as room décor.......