We were awakened by a call at 5:43 AM on Thursday, December 10th. It was my Sister-in-law from Cincinnati. As Kathee fumbled for the phone in the dark, I was asking myself, “Who died?” Sadly, it was my 32 year old nephew who had died suddenly and unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm. 38 months earlier we had been in Helen Georgia at his wedding and on December 14th we went to Gainesville Georgia for his funeral. Sad event indeed! As I viewed his open coffin, I thought about the tremendous hope of the resurrection and the link between our Lord’s incarnation and that hope. This is reflected in Wesley’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
| Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth, |
Even His name speaks of that hope: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Peter expounded on the linkage between His resurrection and the believer’s own future resurrection: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Hello again! I don’t get to do this much, so now that I have the stage for a little while here, let me take the time to wish the SI family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I trust God has blessed you as you have trusted in Him throughout the last 12 months and that He will continue to do so in the next 12.These letters are always the hardest to write because when it comes down to it, I can’t really imagine anyone saying, “Man, I wish I could walk a mile in his shoes!” I mean, my life is pretty quiet, really.
As this year comes to a close, there is much for which we are thankful. God has continued to bless our family and has given us the joy and privilege of serving Him.
2008 has been another, very eventful year for us. First, we have had a great run of book reviews this year and I want to say “Thank you!” to each of our reviewers and to all of you who have read these reviews and have commented on their usefulness. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this aspect of the ministry here at SI, especially all of the behind the scenes conversations with publishers, reviewers and readers. This, truly, has been a source of tremendous spiritual growth for me.
Every year brings its life lessons. I think 2008 taught the Raber Family that …
