Standing on a solid foundation

By Jeff Becraft

A friend of mine named Lennox recently lost his wife to alzheimer’s. I have only met Lennox twice in person. We are part of a Monday night men’s group that meets online. Most of them are in Maryland and a few of us are spread out in other states.

These guys have become very important to me. They are open, honest, genuine, and no one even tries to pretend they are perfect.

The memorial service was yesterday at 11:00 a.m. Arthur had sent out a link for anyone who wanted to watch it. I was behind at work and so I thought I could possibly try having the service up and running and get a few things accomplished at work as well.  I was trying to do two things at once, head in two different directions at the same time.

It was a simple service. A guy came up and opened up in prayer. And then Lennox and his son came on stage to read some passages of Scripture. When I saw Lennox, that was it. There was no more trying to do two things at the same time. There was my friend.  You could see the deep sadness in his eyes (they had been married 44 years). But you could also see something deeper – hope and stability.

My admiration went out to him.

As the son and daughter later shared about their mother, my heart was gripped. And then after them… came Lennox. He shared from his heart – again, the same deep sorrow but also the same deep hope. He talked about how great Jeanette was and also his faith in the Lord. He then played his guitar and sang a song expressing his love for his Lord and you could sense his entrusting his wife into His hands.

After the song, he spoke in very sincere, emotional, heartfelt, simple sentences, expressing his love for his wife. And then he calmly got up, with the same deep sorrow and the same deep assurance, and walked off the stage back to his seat.

I sat there in silence at my desk.

In my earlier years of life, late high school and early college and even some beyond college, I lived a double life (in some other venue on some other day, I may go into that in further detail).  I said I believed one thing but I lived in a different way. Eventually, when I was 20 years old, it all came crashing down. It always will.

During that time of deep sorrow and despair, I asked myself the question, “Jeff, what are you building your life on?”

Well… I certainly wasn’t building it on any solid foundation. My whole life centered around myself and ever-changing feelings, desires, and circumstances.

It was at that time that I made some serious choices. I believe there is a true Foundation. And in Lennox… as broken and sorrowful as he was… you could see he was standing on that Foundation.

With all the changes, challenges, sweeping difficulties and heartaches in this life, it is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves – “What foundation am I standing on?”

The answer to that question has made all the difference in my life.

 

Jeff Becraft is the Interim Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Youth Corps is a life-changing leadership development experience that inspires high school students to be leaders in the Midlands and beyond. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].