Sadness All Around

This has been a sad week it seems. I know that death is all around us every day and I know that it will touch us all in some way in our life. This week seems to be worse. I guess it started for me when I heard that Marie Osmond's son took his own life over a week ago. Now, I do not know the Osmonds personally but I am a fan. (That's right. I'm an Osmond fan and not ashamed who knows.) I think what made me so sad for them was the fact that they are so grounded in their faith but it's a faith that is so wrong. They seem to be unbelievably nice and sweet people and it hurts my heart to know that they are so far away from the truth but yet know the truth. Does that make sense? Plus, suicide just does not make sense to me. I just can't imagine being in a place where I think the only out is to kill myself. I know it happens and many people commit suicide every day but I just can't imagine what they are thinking in the midst of the act.

I'm assuming that most of you know that I work for my denomination, Free Will Baptists. I work in the Home Missions Department as the Administrative Assistant to Richard Atwood and David Crowe. Richard is the Director of Missionary Assistance and David is the Director of Development. I try not to talk about work too much on here since it is a National department and most of you that read this blog is a Free Will Baptist. I don't talk about it much because I don't want to get myself into trouble by saying the wrong thing or giving out too much details on certain things that happen within our department. But on Monday we did get a call from one of our missionaries saying that his wife's brother had died suddenly on Sunday. It was pretty devastating to them and so I'm asking if you will pray for LeAnn Ledbetter and her family. LeAnn and her husband Randy our missionaries to Salt Lake City, UT.

Then last night I was talking to my sister (in law) when I get a call from our General Director, Larry Powell. He had called to tell me that Richard Atwood's brother, Brian, had passed away from a heart attack in Huntsville, AL. Brian is the father of International Missionary to Spain, Brooke Turnbough. I went to college with Brooke and her brother Brandon. My heart goes out to all of them. Richard and his wife, Sandy, went to Huntsville last night to be with Brian's wife. It was a huge shock and we are getting many calls here at the office regarding it. Again, I ask for your prayers for the Atwood family.

Then, (I know the bad news keeps coming) I read online that the actor Corey Haim passed away early this morning. This saddens me almost as much as the death of Marie Osmond's son. The news reports say that he died of a drug overdose. I am a child of the 80's and so to see him pass away at just 38 years old was a shock.

So today feels so odd to me and I'm having a hard time trying to find a way to end this post. I guess it's just a reminder that the life is precious and we need to always tell the people around us that we love them. It's a reminder that we are here on this Earth for just a moment and we need to do all we can to tell people about Christ and to live and serve Him to the best of our ability.