Shortly after Day 033, my best friend, Ryan Burge, sadly passed away after months of attempted recovery from a double lung transplant that went south, and a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis... If you follow my other blog, or asked me, you have an idea of how I (or we, as friends) felt afterwards, and even now. I have also written about him and his family here on 365. Hands down, the hardest part of my young life, thus far. He is dearly missed, but we will all see him again, when we're called back Home =).
Moving the attention back to 365, here is a collage of all the Project photos taken, from his passing, all the way to the morning of his memorial service. (Right before the San Francisco trip! More to come!) As you can see, photos weren't anywhere close to the front of my mind, although I did manage to get some good snapshots of my other real close friends... We made the poster (pictured in the middle) a while ago for him, with several personal letters and prayers... Yes, the "y" is backwards. Thanks, Cameron. =P One photo in particular stands out...
Literally, this is a photo of a burning pile of debris... But, to me, it's symbolic of God's presence and love for us. Our lives aren't perfect. We will stumble. We will fall. We'll feel pain and suffering. Surely, what happened to Ryan isn't what any of us expected, after what was originally a highly successful double lung transplant, let alone something we ever wanted to plan for. It left a hole in our lives when he left. That's not what we prayed for. Why did God take him away? Here's what I wrote on my other blog on the subject...
He didn't. Ryan's only living with Him now. God answered our prayers in a way we didn't expect, or want, but it was what was best for Ryan. I said earlier that he wasn't suppose to live past a couple years old. We were never supposed to know he even existed. But Ryan made it to 23, against all odds, fighting the whole way. If anything, God prolonged his life so that we would know him. So we'd know his story and be able to share what an incredible person he was during his short stay here.
God knows what's best for us, whether or not we realize it. Things won't always turn out the way we want, but always the way we need. No matter what you're going through. No matter how hard you fell. You will always be helped back up. Christ dove through the fire to save us. When all is said and done, and when all the smoke clears, He will still be holding onto our hand, never letting go. Ready to guide us along the narrow path the will lead us to life. (Matt. 7:13-14) Loving us when we have nothing left to hold onto. He is the reason we're able to keep pushing forward after times like these, and as a result, my love for Him has only grown stronger.
13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
Amen my friend...amen =]
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