Enjoying the Time We Have, Part II

Back in Feburary of this year I wrote an article titled Enjoying the Time We Have.  The primary premise of that article had to do with the difficulties of good-byes in relation to missions work.  Recently we have had to deal with another aspect of this same issue, which is the passing away of loved ones.  Of course seeing our loved ones pass away is always hard, but it does seem that being separated by thousands of miles when it happens multiplies the pain.

On September 10, 2008, Cirena’s mother Placida Generalao went home to be with the Lord.  The last time we were together is when this picture above was taken, Christmas of 2007.

Mama Cida, as we affectionately called her, is not the first loved-one we have had to bury since our  missions work began.  In December of 2005, my mother, W. Gail Douglas, passed away following a year-long battle with cancer.  We travelled to Canada from the Philippines to see her and only days later she was gone. 

Less than one year later, in October of 2006 we travelled back to Canada, this time from the Missions Training Center in Missouri,  to bury my father, Robert G. Smith.  With each of these lives, along with other loved ones and friends that have passed away since our missions work began, we are tremendously grateful for the time we have had prior to their death. 

As our director of Student Life, Marv Ketchum, at NTM’s MTC stated, "it truly brings to light the brevity of life."  My challenge to each one then, with all of your loved ones and friends, is to truly enjoy the time that you have, knowing that we know not the time or the hour in which our Lord will call us onward.