I was scrolling through Facebook one day as I have found it helpful to keep me up to date on current events. Since I don’t watch the news or TMZ, it gives me a good blend of the two, not to mention great trending recipes.
However, this time, as I was scrolling, I found something that struck my heart. It was an article about a man we attended the Lifeline weekend with. He had been in a fatal accident.
My first thought was one of unbelief as I scrolled to read the article attached. My second thought was for his beautiful wife. I could remember them sitting in class, her arm wrapped around his arm. You could see they loved each other.
I think what hit me so hard about this one life was my husband and I got to share some deep feelings and struggles with him and our other classmates in our session. It created an unspoken bond that made us wish the best for everyone who attended. We all seemed to come from different backgrounds, but ended up finding we were all pretty similar to some degree or another. We got to understand each other a little more, and through that, we got to understand our spouse better.
I shared the post with my husband as he noticed something was bothering with me. Immediately, his demeanor began to match mine as we sat there and I cried in his arms. It was like we both lost a good friend. One of the things that stuck out in the article about his death was, he was spending time with his family when the accident occurred.
Recently, his wife and I messaged back and forth about his last two years since he attended Lifeline. She gave me permission to share the following to encourage you.
“And if you are referring to him being different after the Lifeline weekend, you are right. We had just under two years with him after that. We were both changed by that 40 hour weekend. We were given a second chance, our kids were given a second chance at a whole healed family. I’m so incredibly thankful I stumbled into finding the Lifeline Weekend buried in an obscure Marriage Counseling website.”
She went on to share, he almost didn’t attend.
One life. One weekend. One huge difference for his wife. One huge difference for his kids.
His obituary from the Lifeline weekend became his real obituary. He actually fulfilled everything he wrote.
He definitely left a legacy that will carry on for a long time.
RIP Jake. God’s peace and comfort be with you, Lynda and your children as you will be in our prayers.
Written by Jen Morgan
