Day: September 18, 2017

Every now and then you come across a love story that is made in Heaven. Roy went home to be with the Lord on August 30, 2017.  Roy has a tremendous amount of faith in the Lord. Roy was a soft-spoken man who not only lived a life filled with the kind of love for Christ that we should all be living.

A few weeks ago when I was at church I noticed that Roy was having a hard time walking and was even having problems standing. He would try to get up and would fall back into his seat. It was heart wrenching to see how difficult things were for him.  I told my brother-in-law that it looks like something is going on with Roy.  He became so frail and when speaking his voice quivered and it was hard to hear him. My heart broke for him.

After the service began, I started thinking about how no matter how he felt, he wanted to be at church worshiping God with fellow Christians and friends.  We have a time during our service where we can ask for prayers or offer praise reports. I would say about six or seven months ago Roy was given the mic and both he and BJ shared with everyone that they have been blessed by God. They knew that they were coming to end of this life. With his voice shaking and close to tears, he shared that he has had a wonderful life and that whenever God calls them home, they are ready and not afraid. They sat in their seats, holding hands and smiled at each other as they shared their praise with everyone.

Roy’s memorial service was on Saturday, September 16th. He passed away a couple of weeks ago following a car accident.  BJ was unable to attend his memorial service since she was physically struggling. BJ was placed on hospice a few months ago and was living in the care center since Roy couldn’t physically care for her and she wasn’t able to live at home any longer. Roy was on the way to see BJ when he got in the car accident. Even though she was in the care center and had excellent care, he still made sure to be there for her. If she needed anything, he wanted to be the one to help her.

There is a song that I played for my mother in law when my father in law died and it is so fitting for Roy and BJ. It is a song by Collin Ray called “If You Get There Before I Do”.

BJ couldn’t attend the service because she was in a great amount of pain and she wasn’t able to get dress. After the memorial service Roy and BJ’s family took a copy of the cd so she could listen to the service. They also brought the cards that people gave them and read them to BJ. Since she was blind, she had to have things read to her. After she spent time with family and listened to the memorial service for Roy, her family went to Roy and BJ’s home to pick up some things. About 2 hours later the care center called and let them know that BJ passed away around 6:30.  I would think that she knew it was time to meet up with Roy. BJ passed away on September 16. 2017 around 5:16 pm. She didn’t have to wait long to see Roy.

Have you ever heard the song, “Make Me a Blessing?” This song fits the heart and love of Roy and BJ. I wish we would sing that song at church.

• Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Make me a blessing,
Make me a blessing,
Out of my life
out of my life
May Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O savior, I pray,
I pray Thee, my Savior,
Make me a blessing to someone today.

Roy loved BJ with all of his heart and soul. They are the kind of couple that movies and books have been written about.  Just think about watching couples that are in their 80’s or 90’s walking down the street hand in hand. When they spoke to each other it was  always in kindness and love. BJ was legally blind and she needed help with some of the simplest of things. He took care of her every need and he never said no to her.  Roy and BJ never lost their grace, and dignity.

There are some who have said that it is so sad that they both died and how horrible it has to be for their family and friends. For anyone who knew Roy and BJ, we would say this was a beautiful gift from God. I am positive that they both prayed for each other and thanked God for everything He has given them. The kind of love they shared demonstrates God’s love and mercy.  God gave them a beautiful gift by bringing them both home together.

In the Arms of Jesus

Roy and BJ took their wedding vows serious. I think they were married 44 or 45 years. Right around there. Roy and BJ  embodied the meaning of their wedding vows “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

With all of the health issues Roy and BJ had, I am excited and happy for them. Once they left this life and entered into eternity, they have and are experiencing the kind of happiness we can dream about. There is no way we can find that kind of joy and love here on earth.  I can picture both of them running through the fields of flowers hand in hand.  God loves us, if we put our faith in Jesus Christ and believe he is the Son of God, we can all experience that same kind of joy and happiness.

1 Thessalonians 4:17– After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a friend who passed away. His memorial was Yesterday. His wife couldn’t attend the service because she was in pain and couldn’t get dress. A CD was made for her and family took cards they received over. Played it for her then left about 4:30. 2 hours later the care center calls and said she passed away. Goodbye Roy and BJ Alexander you’re together again holding hands and saying Sweetie and Honey. RIP

I posted this as a reply to Craig’s status on Facebook. When I think of how BJ went to be with the Lord and Roy, I know that God had an awesome loving hand in it all. It isn’t goodbye, it is till we meet again. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, there are no goodbyes. They are on the most awesome lifetime of a honeymoon ever. And to be in the presence of the Lord, I can’t feel sorrow for them. I am willing to bet that each of them prayed that they could go like they did. I’m working on a blog post about them. I will share it when I am done

One of the most awesome things about Heaven The most important fact about heaven, is that we will be safely in God’s presence forever. Think of it—no more fear, or sorrow, or pain! Is heaven your destination?

If you aren’t sure where you will spend eternity, then this may be a good time to make sure that you are prepared. If you need to talk to someone about the most important decision you will ever make, feel free to comment below. We can have someone pray with you and for you. We aren’t guaranteed another day, month or year. Shoot, we don’t know what will happen from one minute to the next.

Even though we will miss Roy and BJ, we can know with certainty that for those who have proclaimed their faith in Jesus Christ, that we are only separated for a short time. It isn’t good-bye, it’s till we meet again.  The awesome news is  that we will be reunited with our loved ones, well, the ones who believes in Jesus Christ. What an awesome day that will be. I’m sure the word awesome isn’t even a good word to use.  I think this is a much better word than awesome 🙂 “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. This is what it means;

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” was first attested in the 1940s.  The roots of the word have been defined as follows: super- “above”, cali- “beauty”, fragilistic- “delicate”, expiali- “to atone”, and -docious “educable”, with the sum of these parts signifying roughly “Atoning for educability through delicate beauty.” According to the film, in which the word gained its popularity, it is defined as “something to say when you have nothing to say”. However, it is commonly defined as “extraordinarily good” or “wonderful” as all references to the word in the film can be perceived as positive. 

Even though we miss those who have gone on before us, my heart is well because I know that there will be a day when I will be reunited with my loved ones.  There are some who I know didn’t believe in Jesus Christ. They didn’t want anything to do with God and they felt it was nonsense. I will be covering this a bit more in my next blog. I wanted to be sure to keep this blog post about Roy and BJ.