Websters defines amazing as “causing astonishment, great wonder, or surprise,” but when uttered, it can describe so many incredible things. When describing someone as amazing, the definition does not cover the meaning one has in their mind. An amazing person embodies all the best qualities of us, a goodness that we should all strive to achieve, and someone who can with just a glance, or a smile make your day brighter. 

I know that we all have such people in our lives, and some have more than a few. We need to embrace them and let them know how wonderful they are. How fortunate we are if these amazing people are an intricate part of our lives, a spouse, our children, family, and friends, and just maybe someone who we work with. I consider myself extremely fortunate as I have amazing people that fit in each category.

God blesses us with the ability to build these incredible relationships, and it is up to us to appreciate them knowing that one day we will have to face their earthly end. One of those relationships ended for me on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, and it is hard. Someone I worked with for 27 years, was called home on that day after several months of fighting a tough cancer diagnosis. She was without question, at only fifty-four, one of those amazing people. I am certain that anyone you ask who knew her would agree. Now come the questions, why does God take amazing people away? How could God have allowed this to happen? These questions are natural and befitting of this amazing person.

The merciful God that I know, did not take this amazing person from us, but He did save her from the pain and suffering of a terrible disease. God does not give us terrible things, and death is simply God bringing you home away from the pain. Death is merely a transformation from this journey to the next. While it does not make sense that an amazing person would be taken so young, but each of us will face our final day and our life here ends. It is through faith in Jesus that our path home is established. 

When we last spoke, she told me she was not afraid to die, and her only concern was for her family. She knew the heartache her death would cause, and she did not want to cause them pain. I pray that the knowledge that this amazing woman, who loved them so completely and who faced her diagnosis with such grace, is free of her earthly pain will bring comfort to all of us who love her. 

I knew her earthly heart and I know with absolute certainty that she is now in paradise. I know she believed in a place beyond this life because we talked about it often over the last 27 years and I know this amazing person is simply waiting for us to come home too.

As we celebrate Christmas, remember that God sent His only Son to open the door to paradise.

God Bless 

Andrej N. Lah

Director of Cemeteries