Lauging at a funeral...

I know, not what you expected but it really happened! First of all I want to apologize for being absent for so long! I was out of town, got in town, we all got sick and then... dum dum dum- I started writing a book! It is in the first stages but I really felt lead to this and hoping that it will be something of interest! I will keep writing my blog and I have some specific goals for what I am writing here so please be on the look out for more!

Back to the story- You know the belly laughs that are almost impossible to contain, well it happened to my sister and I at a family members relatives funeral! It was a small viewing and there was only a few handful of people there but a lot of them were relatives. My sister and I were in early high school, maybe even junior high and we had gone up to see the sweet lady who had gone home to Jesus and we noticed her rings were not on her hands. Now, let me say she wasn't the kind of woman who adorns herself with jewelry but she did always have her rings a on and they were missing. Once, we had seen her we took our seats and waited for the service to began. I leaned over to my sister and commented that the rings were missing. We very quietly discussed where her rings were and came to the conclusion that they would have given them to the family. I thought for a moment and whispered to my sister, "Put my rings in my mouth, I want to be buried with them." Other than the fact it was completely inappropriate, she started giggling. Seeing her laugh made me laugh and we tried coughing to cover it up but it was hard! We finally regained composure and made it through the rest of the service. No one really noticed what had happened but when I think back on it, I have really learned my lesson. No, not that laughing at a funeral is wrong- lots of times we are able to gather together and see friends and family we don't see regularly. More importantly we get to celebrate a life, which in my opinion is an awesome way to honor someone, by remembering them fondly.
No, what I think about now is we don't get to take things with us. We can collect everything we can get our hands on but on our last day of earth, our thoughts will not be about, I didn't play the last video game, checked out the newest show or bought the designer jeans. Our thoughts will be about our family, friends and our Maker. We need to be ready today, because tomorrow could be our last. I'll leave you with these last words to ponder:
When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.  ~William James