Part III: Rest in peace, sweet Will

Part III: Rest in peace, sweet Will

Early Sunday morning God called home one of his children, Will Warren.

Will is a cousin of Robin Warren, one of my best friends since preschool. Robin’s family is some of my family’s dearest friends.

Will hydroplaned early Sunday morning and wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the car. He was 22. It just doesn't seem real.

My heart breaks for Robin and the Warrens. I can empathize with them after loosing my own cousins Lindsay and Madison and Uncle Alan in car wrecks, and I hate what they have to go through. My grandmother said “this is like hell on earth” after we lost Lindsay, and according to Rob Bell, hell on earth is a complete lack of love and lack of the will of God. God did not will that these young people die. Jesus came that we would have life and have life to the full. But this world is broken, and we may not understand why they had to die, but we can trust that God is good and will bring good out of it because He says so, He promises this: “in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” Romans 8:28.

God did not will these people to die, but He can use it to His glory. And He does know the date each one of us will leave the earth. He knows all things.

And, Jesus says, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” in John 13:7.

In Heaven we’ll know, we’ll see how God was able to use this, to perhaps reach the lost or wake people out of complacency so they live better lives or learn to love others better. We do not know now, but we can know God was good.

I went to visit Robin in Seattle before 5th grade when her dad Kenny was being treated for cancer out there, and at her dad’s visitation I played with her in the bathroom. I remember hearing that he wasn’t going to make it and just bawling in the shower. That’s the first memory I have of the heartbreaking pain of a death of a loved one, my first memory and experience of the frailty of life and its transient, precious, delicate nature. I wished I could have been there with her last night and today for the funeral. Being the same age as Will, they were so close. She was on a mission trip when it happened and I am so thankful she was able to come back and be with her family. Being with family is what gets you through, seeing your loved ones, experiencing the love, just holding each other.

Will was a lovable rascal. Blonde hair and a twinkle in his eyes. His cousin Dana described him as a cousin who “filled our lives with insurmountable joy and life force, and you loved without hesitation or judgment” which, though I didn’t know him well these past few years, I believe does great justice to him.

Will was my first boyfriend.

Yeah, in 6th grade. He stole my mittens and stuffed them in the bottom of the coke machine where you pull out your drinks. I think we were only boyfriend/.girlfriend for a month or two, but he was always just such a nice, kind person. Last time I saw him was at Dana’s wedding two summers ago with his date Dana, my old neighbor. Dana’s facebook status after it happened was “Dana is wondering why life is so unfair – missing Will.”
I pray that God will be a comfort to those grieving the loss of their beloved friend, cousin, brother, son, grandson, nephew.

Almighty God, in whose hands our transient lives are held – was the beginning of a prayer during this past Advent season. In whose hands our transient lives are held. I love that image. Our lives are brief, just glimpses of what await us in eternity, but they are under the watchful, loving, protective care of a very Awesome very Loving God.

This is the song I listened to yesterday and sent to Robin, filling in the names of our loved ones:

Brad Paisley - When I get where I'm going
When I get where I'm going
on the far side of the sky.
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly.

I'm gonna land beside a lion,
and run my fingers through his mane.
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain

(Chorus:)
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
there'll be only happy tears.
I will shed the sins and struggles,
I have carried all these years.
And I'll leave my heart wide open,
I will love and have no fear.
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with [Cousin Lindsey, Uncle Alan,Cousin Madison, Kenny Warren & Will Warren],
and he'll match me step for step,
and I'll tell him how I missed him,
every minute since he left.
Then I'll hug his neck.

(Chorus)

So much pain and so much darkness,
in this world we stumble through.
All these questions, I can't answer,
so much work to do.

But when I get where I'm going,
and I see my Maker's face.
I'll stand forever in the light,
of His amazing grace. Yeah when I get where I'm going,
Yeah when I get where I'm going,
there'll be only happy tears.
Hallelujah!
I will love and have no fear.
When I get where I'm going.
Yeah when I get where I'm going.

When I get where I’m going and I see my Maker’s face, I’ll stand forever in the light of his amazing grace! Praise God!