The Story Behind “On The Day I Die” by Bob Jones

I wrote a post about living and called it, “On the Day I Die.”

Morbid?

No.

Attention grabbing?

I hoped so.

The content has been shared in our local St Albert newspaper and on blogsites.

I wrote the post after going through three funerals in twenty-four hours on a holiday weekend. I helped lay to rest a 19-year old, an 89-year old and a 53-year old. Two were sudden deaths.

Even for a pastor that’s a lot of death to deal with.

Funerals are unparalleled moments in a pastor’s ministry. Caring for people at a time of crisis and grief is part of my calling. I lean into it. People become vulnerable in bereavement like no other passage in life.

Funerals affect me. At times deeply.

Each funeral reminds me of my own mortality. My day will come.

That reminder is a gift of life that comes from death.

After that particular holiday weekend I sat down and imagined what would happen on the day I died. Especially if my death was unexpected and while I was still serving as a lead pastor at North Pointe.

The process was cathartic.

To imagine the end of my days was a profitable way to see how I should be living the rest of my days. I highly recommend it to you.

What seems SO important and urgent is cast in a healthy perspective.

On the day I die, the few people who really know and truly love me will cry.

And so knowing this, I force myself to remember that my time with family and friends is finite. And fleeting. And precious.

It’s easy to waste so much daylight in the days before you die.

Don’t let your life be stolen by the bill of sale on all that you’ve been led to believe matters.

On the day you die, the fact is that much of it simply won’t. Matter.

Hug hugely.

Kiss tenderly.

Love without fear.

Live your one and only shining life for the one and only eternal God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Bob is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to grow hope, inspire readers, forge authentic faith in Jesus, and help others discover what's really important in life.

You can follow his writing at Pointes Of View.

The Story Behind the Story by Lynn Dove

The Story Behind “Even Though I Walk Through the Valley”

In 2011, I won a Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Award for an article I wrote in 2010, entitled, “Even Though I Walk Through the Valley”.  My daughter had suffered a traumatic miscarriage and our entire family was trying to negotiate the deep, deep valley of grieving the loss of what would have been our first grandchild.  For my daughter, it was an intense time of sorrow as she and her husband sought comfort from the Lord, but also asked those “Why?” questions of God.  For me, seeing my child suffer so in her grief, led me to express my heartache in writing for her in particular, but also writing and posting an article on my Journey Thoughts blog for all those navigating mountaintop as well as valley experiences in their lifetimes.

One of my favourite places is the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.  My husband grew up there, and we continue to visit the area on a regular basis.  It seemed a fitting setting to describe the beauty of both the mountaintop of Mount Washington and the Comox Valley.  I was so well-acquainted with the area it was easy for me to contrast the actual setting of Comox, and to use it as a wonderful analogy for the “mountaintop” and “valley” experiences of life. 

I did a fair bit of research on the article as I read commentaries and online articles that exegeted the 23^rd Psalm so I could get a better understanding of the wording and meaning of that beautiful Psalm.  I was especially captivated by the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep as he leads his flock to greener pastures in search of nourishment.  Sheep follow the shepherd as he guides them up and over rocky terrain.  Like sheep, we follow the Good Shepherd, Jesus.  He knows us and we know Him.  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—“  (John 10:14)

I camped out for weeks in the Psalms and read and reread Psalm 23.  One line in particular drew most of my attention: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley…” (Psalm 23:4)  One word, “through” jumped off the page at me and I took note of it in my notes, and then when I wrote the article I highlighted it in the last paragraph of my article:

“My family and I are walking through one of those “valleys” right now.  Notice I say we’re “walking through“, we’re not rushing through it, nor are we going to camp here indefinitely.  We’re walking through, taking our time, being comforted by the Good Shepherd, and we’ll move on when He says move on.  Until such time, we will take nourishment from Him here in the valley, and though our eyes may stray to the mountain from time to time, we will find rest and comfort here for now.  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

It is humbling that this article still gets read and commented on eight years after it was originally published.  Its message is timeless, I suppose.  My sweet daughter, walked through that particular valley of miscarriage only to carry to term our first grandson in February, 2011.   Two years later our granddaughter was born.  When our daughter-in-law suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to a boy in December 2017, and then our fourth grandbaby in May 2018, we walked through those dark valleys with her before we experienced the mountaintop joy of welcoming those boys into our family. 

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com