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I am very sorry for you and your family. That must be the hardest thing in the world to deal with. My girlfriend, Megan, and I have been together for nearly four years now and I really dont know what I would ever do without her. She is a junior at Grove City College, which is a very religious school. I sent this thread to her and she told me how sad she is to hear that. She also told me that a student down the hall from her died in a car crash on the first day of thanksgiving break on the way to pick up her brother from Penn State. She also sent me a letter written by her roommate about the incident. After I read this post and what my girlfriend had sent to me I was upset and I thought that it wasnt fair that two young people were cheated out of such promising lives. But after reading the letter I pasted below, it made me remember that God has a plan and a reason for everything, which is something that is very easy to forget in a time like this for everyone. I hope reading this letter makes it a little easier to deal with and keep faith. Best wishes.
sincerely,
Ben Lipiec
"The news of Sarah’s death left me a sobbing, hysterical wreck. She had one more semester of college. She had perfect grades. She was 20. And now she’s dead. Would somebody please tell me, what was the point of that.
The newspapers said her accident caused an oversize traffic jam; the kids traveling home for thanksgiving break were delayed several hours. The callousness of it upset me. That they were concerned more with temporary congestion than the loss of my ( - - blocked - - )’ life was to be expected, though, after all, they didn’t know her. But who did? My answer to that question is what really put me in a terrible state. Sarah was introverted, quiet, incredibly shy. I was her roommate, and it took me years to really get to know her. Other than a handful of close ( - - blocked - - ), very few at Grove City would even notice she was gone.
God that’s so unfair. So pointless. So completely, nauseatingly stupid. Sarah didn’t even have a chance. And her death was a damn waste.
Such were my thoughts as I drove the 150miles from Pittsburgh to Clymer, New York. But when I arrived for the funeral, it wasn’t long before I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. Sarah’s parents gave me a hug and told me everything was ok. Her brothers teased me about beating Sarah’s IM football team. Was it true, were they actually comforting me? I’d never seen such peace, composure, or acceptance in the face of such trouble and pain, nor would I have believed it possible. During the service, the minister read several excerpts from Sarah’s journal. Sarah didn’t talk much, but she was an English major who wrote everything down. Where verbal communication had been a struggle, Sarah’s pen made up for a thousand times over. I wish I had a photographic memory and could recall the exact phrasing and words, but what Sarah’s journal revealed was a relationship with God like nothing I have ever seen. In early entries, she struggles with not desiring God, and wanting to satisfy her flesh rather than obey His law. In a later entry, she recognized, ironically that her problem was she focused too much on her problems: doing so was in-and-of-itself prideful (“like I seriously have the ability fix myself”) and not resting on promises of God. Eventually, Sarah’s journal said this:
I accomplish my purpose in life only if I abide in Christ and He in me. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). If I am following God whole-heartedly, I am free to pursue whatever I desire, because my desires will be pure…. That’s a liberating message, isn’t it? People get the idea that Christianity boxes you in, that you’re forced to obey all these orders and commands from God. In reality, the closer we get to Him, the freer we are to do what we want, because what He wants becomes what we desire. [September 3, 2007.]
Sarah wrestled her flesh in the wonderful, perfect place that is the center of God’s will. She wrote:
So the purpose of life is to get beyond life, but also to live life…to look forward to death, but also to live vicariously and love living. But not to love living more than God. So convoluted, or perhaps more apt, paradoxical. I do want to love my life, and to take pleasure in God’s slow, secret molding of me into whatever it is he’s doing. I do, I will [March 27, 2007].
During the service, her brother Jeremy recalled the story of Pilgrim’s Progress. “Christian,” he said, “took awhile to get the Celestial City because he made some stops along the way. He detoured through Vanity Fair, took the easy trail leading to Doubting Castle. But Sarah was on the straight and narrow path her entire life. She’s in heaven now because she made it to the River before everyone else.”
It was the last thing I expected, but when I ( - - blocked - - ) away from that funeral I was simply in awe of the faithfulness and goodness of God. Goodness in the way He brought comfort and healing to Sarah’s family, and to me. Goodness in the knowledge that her death was truly part of a plan, His plan, since the beginning of time. Goodness in that that plan simultaneously brought Sarah more joy and God more glory than anything my human mind could fathom.
Sarah, when I look over at your empty seat in politics class, I’m swept by a sea of emotions. On one level, I’m sad. I’m SO sad you’re not here, and I’ll no longer have the pleasure of your ( - - blocked - - ). On another level, I’m jealous: you’ll never have to write another paper, take another test, or listen to another Dr. Kengor rant on how we thought Suddam had weapons of mass destruction. And at the highest level, I’m proud, proud that you had genuine faith and lived it out, and I’m inspired by your example. Thank you for reminding me that God is real, He forgives, He loves me, and He can use my life, too, if I surrender it up to Him."
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