A Very Sad Week Indeed

Yes, so very sad.
My family's hearts are broken.
This past weekend, a very VERY dear friend of ours passed away.
We have talked about it, we have cried,,,,,,but its still NOT REAL!
We are in total SHOCK!
Our dear friend and Pastor, Ray Burnette is no longer here with us.
But he lives on in Glory and because he was an organ donor, he lives on through others here on earth.
This Thursday night will be his visitation and Friday will be his Celebration Service.

My husband and I have been talking about it,,,,,
Its going to be REALLY HARD for us to Celebrate!
We are followers of Christ, We know that our friend is in Paradise. 
We know we WILL see him again one day.
But right now, thats just not alot of comfort. 
But I told my husband, "Its the only hope we've got!"
Because we are Christians, Because we believe what God says in HIS Word,
We know that this is not permanent! 

But right now, it still hurts!

We loved Ray and Ray loved us.
We felt like Ray was our Greatest Ally!
He loved us unconditionally.
He was always open and honest with us, but at the same time, he was always on our side!

Such a true man of God.
Such a true Servant.
He was an Evangelist.
He was a Missionary.
He was a Pastor.

We are hurting so deeply right now,,,,,My heart truly goes out to his wife!
,,,,and to his 3 children,,,,and to his 7 grandchildren! 

(Ray was at the gym one day. He had a brain aneurysm, and it burst. He was at Emory for three weeks. He was in a coma the whole time. The team there struggled trying to keep his brain swelling down.One night while at Emory, while in a coma, he had a massive stroke and that caused him to be brain dead.)

Over the last few days, there have been so many posts on FB and there has been so many pics of Ray, but I chose this particular picture. This IS RAY. Always smiling. Always joyful. A personality that was larger than life! 

We love you, Ray.

We will miss you so much!

I just want to say one more thing,,,,,
The people you love, will not be around forever. 
Some will go sooner than others. But none of us ever know when it will be our time to go.
We talked and made plans with Ray and his wife as if he would be around forever. 
When I would think about the future, My daughter graduating, My daughter getting married....
I always pictured it in my mind with Ray and Rose right there beside us.
Dont procrastinate! If you make plans with someone you love, follow thru with the plans, 
Dont put it off!