Never Alone

The Bible tells us that we never have to be alone.

Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I love this passage in scripture. It is taken from passages where God is telling Joshua that he will lead an army into the promised land. He tells him "No one will be able to stand against you!" He tells Joshua before he even goes to war, that he will come out of it unharmed. He will win the victory. I'm sure Joshua was still scared at times. I'm sure what he had to do was still difficult. He still had to go forward and fight. But I'm sure in the back of his head was always the promise God gave him . . .that no one will be able to stand against him and he would never be alone. Joshua would be the one to remain standing. Do you think it made Joshua live and fight differently?

Mike knew that same promise. Whenever I asked him, "Mike, if you died tonight, what would happen to you?"

Looks at me strangely - "Well, I'd go to heaven," he says very confidently but annoyed (Moms can be annoying like that - when we ask the same question several times over a period of time).

Mom: "Why will you get to go to heaven?"

Mike: In a tone like he is saying, well, daaahhhh mom, he says, "Because Jesus died for my sins." And then I would get a big smile on my face. Yep, never a second thought.

Just a few verses later in Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I can remember a time when Katie and Mike were about 4 and 5 years old. They would fight to get to sit in the front seat next to mom. No car seats back then. One day while Mike was sulking in the back seat because Katie got to the front seat first, Katie turned to him and said, "Don't worry Mikey! You're not alone back there, Jesus is with you!" Yep, my kids knew they were never alone. They had heard these Bible stories since they were infants.

As Pastor Naumann assured us in the sermon at Mike's funeral:

Mike had the confident hope of knowing where he was going. When I visited him last Friday, I asked him if there was anything he was afraid of. He looked at me, and he said-well I just want to be sure that my brothers can be my pall bearers and if they could wear their vests at church-is that gonna be OK? I said absolutely. He said-then there is this procession from the church to the cemetery-can they ride in that procession-it’s going to be really loud? I said-I can’t wait to hear it Mike. No problem. But that’s all the service-we can take care of that, but what about you-is there anything you are afraid of? Mike said, “I hope my mom is going to be OK after I’m gone.” I said, she has a great family and great friends-and an even better Lord that are all going to help her get through this. But Mike what about you- is there anything you are afraid of-anything I can explain from the scriptures of what’s going to happen when you die. He said-No-I’m good-I got Jesus. He’s just going to come and get me.” I said, yes He is Mike, yes he is. Mike was one incredible guy.

Mike knew that he had won the race. He may have lost the battle with Cystic Fibrosis-but he won the War when he got the crown and inherited heaven’s home.
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Mike didn't like being alone for certain things. He let you know it. He didn't want to be alone for surgeries - he had too many to count. Once I didn't go down for something that was supposed to be routine and of course everything that could go wrong did go wrong. That is another blog post for another day.

He didn't mind being in the hospital alone sometimes. Many of the staff became like family to him. He especially liked it when friends and family came to visit.

But there were times when he would request to be alone. Too tired to communicate or too peopled out and just needed down time. He'd let you know.

Before Mike passed away he requested to not be left alone until he was buried. Many people helped to honor this request of Mike's. From the moment he sent this SOS text to his brother Dog:

It reads: Please come to the UW Hospital. I need you brother.

Within hours there would be so many people there to see Mikey that the hospital would be talking about it for days. Not just because most of the people who worked there knew Mike, but because of the heartfelt outpouring of love that we all were blessed to witness. Van Deurzens, Thiesfeldts, Kratzs, Milners, Brothers, dancers, friends and many, many hospital staff members lined up to support Mike during his final round...to tell him how much he meant to them and to say good-bye. They held up Mike's arms until Jesus came. The events of that Monday are for a blog post on another day.

Within minutes after Mike passed, his Brothers came to fulfill their promise. They promised Mike he would not be alone until he was buried.

Mike went from his father and me to the hands of his first cousin Derek Van Deurzen.

Derek is a Funeral Director at Verkuilen Funeral Home in Little Chute. He had the opportunity to speak with Mike the week before and knew exactly what Mike wanted. He came and with the Brothers, lovingly carried Mike out of our home.

With all the professionalism of someone owning their own funeral home (he will own one soon), Derek took care of Mike.

With all the love that only a first cousin can give, he took care of Mike.

I don't know how he did it, but he did. I can't even imagine how difficult this was for him. He was very close to Mike.

And then Mike left.

But not alone.

The Brothers went too. They never left him. Derek was there by day and the Brothers were there by night...until he was buried up in Little Chute five days later. To keep a promise. Because promises are important.

Mike wasn't alone. He was up in heaven having a great time dancing and singing and praising God for keeping all His promises. And down here on earth Derek and Mike's Brothers from the THMC were busy keeping their promises too.

God is so good.

Some days I look back at all of this and it is hard to be sad.

I am so blessed.

Thank you God for keeping all your promises. It makes my heart happy. It gives me hope. I have joy.

I hope you all do too.

Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

Blessings to you.