Uncle Dale...i love you. always and forever.

My precious Uncle Dale went to Heaven at 6:30AM on Saturday, December 18, 2010. Praise God that my uncle is eternally healed. The cancer can no longer take over his body, and he has no limitations. I serve a God of peace, of strength, of comfort, of power, of healing, and so many more things. God was not unaware or surprised of this situation, and His hand has been and continues to guide my family every step of the day. Praise God that His strength never runs out, even when mine does. Praise God that He will be glorified through this situation-He already has been. Pray for my family and I...because we need it, a lot. This next week is going to be extremely difficult. But we don't just need prayers for this week. We need it for far longer than that. 


This is not at all how 

We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

                                             -With Hope, Steven Curtis Chapman

my older sister's poem

My Uncle Dale is going to pass away literally any minute now. I don't really feel like writing about it or anything like that, because yesterday and today have been incredibly stressful. A dear, sweet lady from my church passed away yesterday in a car accident. She leaves behind a husband and 3 daughters, the youngest age 6. So keep the Eberly family in your prayers. And keep my family in your prayers as well. The only thing I want to share is the poem my older sister wrote about the journey the past year and a half of my family and Uncle Dale. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read.

It was a long, difficult journey, but You were there

You were there, when the burden seemed too much to bear

You were there in the times of laughter, and the times of tears

You were there in the times of peace, and the times of fears

You were there in the moments so sweet

You were there in the moments it felt like defeat

You were there in the hopeful rays of the daylight

You were there in the solemn quiet of the darkness of night

You were there in the moments of pain no one else could understand

You were there, upholding, with Your righteous right hand

Surely, You were there, raining down Your mercy and grace

Surely You were there, sending Your angels to that place

You were there, even when we could not see You

You were there, Your heart was breaking too

You were there, hearing each prayer that was prayed

Through it all, You were there, You always stayed

The journey was difficult and long,,

But we we did not walk it alone, for You came along

And now, he has made it home, to that Glorious Place,

Where he sees You, face to face

He is fully healed, fully whole

Completley restored, both body and soul

He sings in the heavenly choir

Singing to the One who is higher

With the Heavenly Host he now plays his horn

In the place where worship was first born

His heart is filled with joy and delight

He is in the place where there is no more sickness, no more night

He has fought the good fight, he has won the race

Now forever he will be with his King, face to face

You were there through the journey, but You are still here

Grieving with those who grieve the loss of someone so dear

We rejoice, because he can now look upon Your face

But still, we miss him, here in this place

But You are faithful, You are true

We don't understand, but our eyes are fixed on You

In the midst of the storm You hold our hand

And You give us a firm place on which to stand

And now, You are in Heaven, but also here

Collecting Your children's tears

And giving us hope for the day

Because though You are there, You are also here to stay

We grieve, but we do not despair 

Because we know death couldn't hold You there

And hallelujah, we have much to gain

 One day we will see him again, where forever You will reign

Because, hallelujah, our souls You save

Because You triumphed over the grave!

saying goodbye with hope

"With Hope" by Steven Curtis Chapman is a song of the promise and hope of Heaven woven in with the bittersweet pain and questions that we deal with when losing a loved one. My precious Uncle Dale has been battling brain cancer for over a year now. It has been a long roller coaster of a journey in so many different ways for my family and I. Uncle Dale's health has been steadily decreasing for months now, and he is at the end of his life here on earth. Sometimes I feel like I have experienced the whole spectrum of human emotions throughout all of this. One thing that I have found myself desperately clinging to again and again was the hope of eternity. By no means is this "the end" for my uncle. It's the beginning of eternal life with God, the ultimate prize. Uncle Dale will soon be face to face with God. So incredible. I've struggled through this with so many different questions. God, why did this have to happen to my uncle? God, why does it feel as though my family is being bombarded on every side with something? God, why can't Uncle Dale's cancer just go away and he be healed here on earth? God, why... I don't think it's wrong to ask questions at all, and I feel that as humans it's our nature to question. But one thing that I've really been challenged on is this: can I be content without receiving an answer, or without receiving the answer that I want? I serve a God who isn't obligated to explain His thoughts or actions to me in any way. And the suffering of this world is not in vain. Romans 8:18 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Countless times in the Bible we are reminded to focus on the eternal, because what is transient does not last. Seriously, read that verse again and let it sink in for a minute. The best is yet to come. When we are fearful, trust more. Pray more. Rely on God, because He's the only one who is dependable 100% of the time. He's always there. And He has control of the situation. That's something that I constantly have to remind myself. Mark 9:23-24 talks about the unbelief of the father of a child who had an unclean spirit. The father cries out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" The father both acknowledged his unbelief as well as the fact that he could not do it on his own. This is one thing that I feel that God has really been breaking me of this semester. I can't do things on my own. I'm a mess. So why not give my life over to the One who has the most beautiful plan possible that will ultimately bring Him glory. My life is absolutely nothing without Christ. Nothing of worth whatsoever. It doesn't matter that I'm not perfect. In Hebrews 11 all the heroes of faith were so messed up. But they believed in a God far bigger than themselves and their situations. One of my close friends Jonny said to me tonight, "Our faith is dependent on what God can do through us or for us, not on what we on our own strength can do for Him. That's the beauty of faith, trusting in God even when we don't understand and when we don't have enough strength to trust in Him like we should." 


Lord, help my unbelief. 

Worth it all

This semester has been a whirlwind for me. So many ups and downs, twists and turns that I feel like I don't have any control of what's going on. But I'm starting to realize that maybe that's the beauty of it. I like to have control in my life, and at times I desperately cling on to the very things that I should be letting go of. As I'm writing this the song "Worth it all" by Rita Springer keeps running through my head. The beginning says: "I don't understand Your ways oh but I will give You my song, give You all of my praise. You hold on to all of my pain, with it You are pulling me closer, and pulling me into Your ways."


The song goes on to talk about searching for God above all else, and knowing that through every trial we go through, it's gonna be worth it. One of the campus pastors at Liberty always says, "We do not deserve anything but eternity in hell. Everything else is a blessing." It really stuck out to me the first time I heard it, and it continues to challenge me each time it passes through my mind. It's so easy to hear that quote and say, "Yeah, that's good, that's good." But do we honestly believe it? Do I honestly believe it? The quote holds so much magnitude...everything is a blessing. Not select things, but every. single. thing. Do I truly live my life in a way that exemplifies this? So many things have happened within the past year that make me stop and think about what I take for granted. Awful, horrific things have happened to my family members as well as others that I love dearly. It's like the old saying, "Someone always has it worse than you." I'm not saying this to be morbid, but it is a reality check for me sometimes. I have to remind myself so many times with various situations to be eternally minded. In the light of eternity, will this really matter? 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, "as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." We are but a glimpse. Our lives on earth are but a flicker of what eternity holds for us. So why do we sweat the small stuff? Why do we freak out over the tiniest things that won't matter a year or so from now? Our human nature is to want to have control. But Jesus calls us to do the complete opposite. Matthew 10:38-39 says, "And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." The verses are clear in my Bible, bright red words standing out on a white page. It's okay to not have control of situations. It's okay to not know what's going on or to have a complete handle on everything. Maybe....maybe that's exactly where God wants us. The point where we realize that we are totally and utterly lost without Him. We are depraved people. I think one of the most beautiful phrases to God is when we are at a place in our lives when we can honestly say, "God, I don't have control of this situation. I don't have control of anything. But You do. I can put my full trust in You. You know what's best. So go ahead God, do Your will in my life." When I feel as though I don't know what's going on in a situation or how to "fix" it, I just need to remember that my plan cannot even compare to the beauty of God's perfect plan. I need to be okay with letting go.


2 Corinthians 12:9-10- But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


Let go, and let God.