God is Faithful

Altotonga, Mexico -- The sight of a 12 year old boy with a trembling chin under squinted eyebrows, trying to control himself "as a man" while he watched his older brother being lowered into the earth was a heart wrenching sight.

This morning, I attended a funeral for a friend of mine. It was tragically sad. Javier Alcantara Reyes, age 21, passed away on July 8, 2007, is what the wooden cross that would mark his gravesight said. At the sight of it, and the long awaited casket, I about choked in tears. Many teens had eyes brimming as they hugged one another and told stories of Javier.

On July 10, I received a text message that a friend had been killed in a car accident. To all of us here, it seemed as if someone had kicked us in the stomach. I scrambled to rearrange my schedule for the pending funeral, get ahold of the appropriate people and comfort friends in the following weeks. But, because he had been in the states and with the paperwork that had to be filed from every which person, he did not arrive in those weeks.

Yesterday, his body arrived to Altotonga, and we had the wake. Yesterday is when it became real for most. In support of friends and the family, I stayed for several hours. As Javier had been a part of the praise team, a leader for a good long time, we sang praise songs "Javier style"-- he also had put a rhythm and style to the songs that were sung. This morning, we walked through town behind the car carrying his casket to the Catholic mass (his family is Catholic) and then to the gravesight.

Sometimes I don't understand the choices God makes. But, He is sovereign and works things out for the best, right? It's like the psalm-- our nights will be turned into morning; it's like the song-- trading our sorrows for the joy of the Lord. I'm waiting to see what God has in store. Like I said, I don't know why God chose to call Javier home so soon. But I trust God and His promises... He has always proved faithful. More in a few days, my friends.