Every Sunday when I attend The Salvation Army corps here in Indianapolis, they conclude their service with a united benediction called "Total Praise."
Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills
Knowing my help is coming from You
Your peace You give me in time of the storm
You are the source of my strength
You are the strength of my life
I lift my hands in total praise to You.
You are the source of my strength
You are the strength of my life
I lift my hands in total praise to You.
Amen, amen Amen, amen
Amen, amen Amen, amen
I would love to say that when I sing this chorus, I focus on giving my total praise to the Lord. However, every Sunday, my focus is distracted by the actual music itself. You see, the sound track they use features an ensemble which includes my brother, David, and my sister-in-law, Miriam. For the life of me, I can't listen to this song without thinking about my brother (and about Miriam).
When I hear their voices rising over everyone else's (which is what happens for me), I am assaulted with feelings of love and longing. I feel great love for David and Miriam. But, I also feel sad that distance and the busyness of life have become an obstacle to the closeness I feel for them. I suppose that is why I have spent some time thinking about David today.
- David and Miriam and their youngest daughter, Kari.
He was always a protective big brother. When I was a freshman in high school, my parents had just moved to Chicago. I attended Carl Schurz, a large public school. My brother, Mark, who was only one year older, had managed to secure a spot at Lane Technical High School, so he didn't attend the same school. If David, who was a senior, had not gone to my school (even though he only attended about half of the day ... how did he manage that?), I would have felt terribly overwhelmed. I knew David would look out for me.
He was also a master at grand ideas. When we were younger, he gathered us together to look for old discarded Coke bottles. Dragging our wagon behind us, we would find as many bottles as we could, then walk with him up to the confectionery and purchase small candies with the deposit money we earned.
Moreover, he was just plain cool. During our high school years, we participated in the Northern Illinois Youth Band together. Several of the older kids, the ones who were David's age, would get together to make zany films together. Even though I wasn't really a part of their crowd (they were mostly guys), I was allowed to tag along for many of these adventures.
It was always obvious that the older girls would seek out my friendship, not for me, but because getting closer to me meant a chance at possibly getting closer to my ultra-cool, very good-looking big brothers. I was just the younger sister (in fact, several of them called me "Gidget" - somehow they said I reminded them of Gidget), but I didn't mind the extra attention via my brothers.
- Back in the day ;)
I fully realized that my older brothers were responsible for most of the social circles I frequented. What a blessing it was to walk in David's shadow. He had great friends and, as a result, they often became my friends.
In fact, I have spent quite a bit of time this weekend praying for some friends who are my friends via David. When David and Miriam first encouraged me to attend CBLI, they worked in the children's program with their good friends, another set of officers, Todd and Cathy T. Through David and Miriam, and through our numerous years at CBLI together, Todd and Cathy became my friends as well. In fact, Todd has always been kind to involve my sons in his fishing exploits at camp.
This weekend, I discovered that their 19 year old son, Trevor, had surgery to remove a brain tumor. Trevor and his wife are mere days away from welcoming their first child. At this point, the news is good. The doctors were aggressive and believe they removed most, if not all, of the tumor. Plus, he is eating and is up walking around.
Still, they will remain in my prayers. And as I pray for them (and yet another cancer victim), I will also be lifting praise to God for my brother, David, because through him God has blessed me with an extended circle of friends. I'll also say a word of thanks that even though I can't see David as often as I would like, I can listen to him preach whenever I want (another blessing). Plus, I get to sing (of God's peace in the midst of storm) with him on Sundays, even when he's not standing next to me.
2 comments:
What a wonderful tribute to your love of David and his influence on your life. ~Karin
Karin - When they lived in Minnesota (near your parents), I drove up with ES at least 6 times. It was always such a blast visiting them. Then, they moved to Chicago, and strangely enough, the visits tapered off. Now I'm lucky to see them once a year (although I do sometimes see them in passing at CBLI, since their kids are usually campers).
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