A friend posted an excerpt from a commencement speech on her Facebook wall today, which described adult life to the up and coming young graduates headed to college. It spoke of the everyday life of an adult, how mundane it can be and how choices truly make the difference in our lives.
There are many things in life that we don’t have a choice about, such as our genetics or where we are born and raised as a child. And then there are those things that we do have the opportunity to choose, how we handle ourselves in a given situation, what we believe in and what we aspire to do with our lives.
There are days that go exactly as planned, with every detail falling into place making you a happy person. And then, there are days that begin like any other, but by the end of the day – we are left wondering what the heck just happened. It is in days such as those that we must make a choice. A choice to let the day defeat us, to taint our view of life and all that we believe is ‘fair’, or a choice to slow down a moment to look closely and see the blessings in our life.
Two days before myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope left us; we had a discussion with a believer and a non-believer. Robert shared his testimony from his heart attack in March of 2013, and how God orchestrated every moment leading up to, during and after – that he/we are living proof that He exists. And then Sunday came, a day like any other…. until God called Robert home. And what, you may ask, is the blessing? It is that every day over the past eleven years has been orchestrated by none other than God, especially the last days he spent here with us. It is that we were brought together for a reason – to see that every day choices and actions make a difference in other’s lives.
As I pulled in the drive this evening, I saw it – a box on the porch, a box I have been anxiously waiting for its’ arrival. I fumbled as I placed the speaker cable into the jack on his iPhone and turned to a Hawaiian iTunes channel. I gathered the white cardboard box from the living room and placed it and the new arrival on the kitchen table. I carefully removed the bubble wrap that protected the beautiful hand crafted koa wood urn sent by Robert’s sister Kawehi. Tears streamed down my face as I then opened the box marked ‘cremated remains of Robert K Pope’ and held him to my chest. I was surrounded by music and felt the love of myDarlin’ as I gently placed his ashes in the velvet lined urn.
I believe in life after death, as I know that one day we will be reunited in the presence of our Lord. I also believe in life before death, a life filled with choices; to live fully in the moment with no regrets, to look for goodness when it isn’t evident, to love, to trust, to step out on faith.
Today I am filled with gratitude that God answered the prayers we prayed for each other the Sunday he went home. Robert prayed for the Lord to give me strength & understanding, and I prayed for Robert’s life to continue to bring others to Christ. My prayer for you, our Ohana, is to choose life before death.
#KeepLookingUp
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