Memorial

I want to memorialize Rebekah. I want to honor her life in some way and I'm not really sure how to do that. I haven't been as quick to tears in the last few days when I bring up a story about her, but I've talked about her a lot. Several people at work are also dealing with deaths and speaking of those passed loved ones has been therapeutic. Through Rebekah's death I've been able to join those conversations more ably. God is being glorified in her death, just by the sheer fact that it gives me the opportunity to show Christ's love to those people also mourning.

I've been sitting in Ecclesiastes while working through all my emotions about her death. Chapter 7:2-4 brought truth that I don't quite understand, but have found to be true:

It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

In some ways I need to be somber about her life--I need to mourn her loss. I'm so thankful that God has given me the ability to remember the moments that were completely silly and ones that were all about Him. Pictures are just a small part of how I remember Rebekah (check out the best on my Xanga). I'm surprised I didn't have more, but it was fun looking through all my digital albums to capture the best ones. I even found a goofy video with Bek and JLinn doing a Rockette's-style kick line on a retaining wall at Destin Commons, late one November night right after they opened for business. Ahh...when the Commons was fresh and new...It was the beginning of a long line of many evenings spent wandering, drinking Starbucks, and watching movies at the Rave. Rebekah always hosted great dinner parties too--she certainly had the gift of hospitality. There's so much more that I can't even begin to write here. Despite having our differences at times, both of us being stubborn as mules, God used her to teach me so much about Himself. She was a nurse, servant, missionary, musician, teacher, and friend to lost souls. I am grateful to have counted Rebekah Carter as a friend.