At church last week, we sang the song In Christ Alone. Little did I know that I would have to depend on the words to that song this week. Little did anyone know that one of my dear, dear friends would be in Heaven tonight.
When I first met Julie, I was two or three years old, she was sixteen, the same age that I am now. At first, I was a little scared of her, I wasn’t sure why she made the sounds that she did or why she looked so little when she was so much older than I was. Soon I learned that Julie was no one to be afraid of, she was a really cool person, with the sweetest personality of anyone that I have ever met. Even though she couldn’t talk using words, she had a language called sign language, that her mom and dad and sisters could all understand and tell me what she was saying. When I was little I remember thinking that Julie always had the coolest blankets, and that she had books about Barney and Cailliou that I wanted and that we shared in church. Over the next few weeks, I learned to love Julie with all of my heart, and that love only grew.
Over the next years, I learned about Julie’s condition more in-depth and I learned why she couldn’t talk, why she looked so little. I found out that Julie’s entire life was a miracle, because when she was born, the doctors said that she wouldn’t live past the age of two, if she could even make it to two. I was delighted to find that Julie could understand me when I talked to her, and then Miss Sheryl, Julie’s mom, would translate her sign language back to me. We had lots of Sunday morning conversations about lots of different things: how she was going to visit Dr. Brian, that she was going to the dentist soon, that she was hungry for pancakes, that Mrs. Shirey brought her a new book about Barney, or that Mr. Elmer brought her chocolate milk from his store. One of my best memories with Julie is that one week after church, I helped Miss Sheryl teach Julie how to jump. We succeeded in teaching her to bounce, but we never could get her to take both of her feet all the way off of the ground.
I also found that Julie was deeply in love with Jesus. Despite her lack of words, Julie sang on Sundays, worshipping Jesus with what voice she had, lifting her hands to praise Him. She listened intently on Sundays to the sermons, and when she wasn’t there for church, she would listen to the tape of my daddy preaching. Julie and I were even baptised on the same day.
This Sunday, we sang the song In Christ Alone. I had no idea that a few hours later, I would be tested in how I really truly believed in what the last verse of the song said.
No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry, til final breath, Jesus commands my destiny
No power of Hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns, or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand
On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
Sunday night, only a few hours after singing this hymn, Julie was admitted to the hospital with severe double pneumonia. Today is Thursday, and Julie is with Jesus in Heaven. She can talk and dance and sing and read. I am sure that now she can jump and take both of her feet off of the ground. I have really had to come to grips with the truth that in both life’s first cry and final breath, Jesus commanded her destiny. I have wondered, why couldn’t He have healed Julie. He could have preserved her life, like He has done so many times in the past. When Julie was born, doctors told her parents that she wouldn’t live past the age of two. Miraculously, Julie lived for thirty years, and lived her life to the fullest, impacting my life, and the lives of all those with whom she had a close relationship. I know that after tonight, my life will never be the same. Going to church will be different without Julie’s sounds. Serving church dinners will be different without Julie watching Sid the Science Kid in the kitchen, or scooting herself across the floor with her blanket. Church breakfasts won’t be the same without Julie eating her cream of wheat in the kitchen. Everyone’s lives will be different without Julie in them, and we will all miss her for a very long time. But we know that Julie has gone to be in the arms of her precious Jesus, the One who loves her more than any of us could even fathom loving.
I thank Jesus so much for the influence that my precious little Julie has had on my life, and I will miss her so much. But I know that she is with Jesus, singing His praises with the saints in Heaven, jumping and leaping with both feet off the ground.
