John 11

Upon his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "If you had been here, Lazarus would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

Later in the story, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

This story has been floating around in my head for days. Oh, how I repeated the words of Martha over and over to Jesus, this week, through tearful sobs. Lord, if you had been with Jeff, would he have died? And will he rise again to your open arms? These questions plague me.

However, at the same time, I sort of feel like God has already raised Jeff. I have seen, through the eyes of his friends, a new Jeff and different Jeff than I ever knew before. Thank you Lord for raising Jeff in my heart through the stories of his friends and co-workers.

I want to share with you some of my brother through the eyes of others who knew him.

"Did you know that Jeff was my first boyfriend?" spoke one young lady. "I have a wonderful memory of him coming to my 13th birthday party. He was so funny and my other friends and family fell in love with him right away. I remember that after the party, Jeff gave me the best present of the day...my very first kiss. He was so sweet and shy about it. He was a great boyfriend!"

"I grew up with Jeff. We were friends in high school and through the church youth group. He was so funny! That is what everybody said about him. He could make a joke out of any situation, and he could charm you into doing almost anything. He was fun and I will miss him dearly."

"The one thing I will always remember about Jeff is that he used to tell the best ghost stories. I remember on youth retreats or camping that he would always tell these stories and scare everybody senseless."

"I remember one summer I went away to camp. Jeff and I had been friends for a while and we talked all the time. Being away from him for so long was only bearable because he would write me letters, like every day. Then on Fridays he would mail a giant envelope filled with all the letters and pictures he had created for me. It was fun to get this package in the mail at the end of the week. I fell in love with Jeff that summer."

"I used to only see Jeff in passing, both of us in a hurry on the way to some important task. He was always smiling or cutting up with someone in the hall. A few times, I had the pleasure of catching a brief lunch with him in the cafeteria. His laugh, cracks about life, and all around light hearted attitude made those brief moments with him worth a life time. Although we were not close friends, I will miss Jeff greatly."

Thank you Lord for Jeff. Thank you for blessing all our lives with his spirit. Lord, please raise Jeff with his broken heart, his good and his bad, his hope and his desperation and hold him in your hand. Please love him and keep him safe until we can be with him and join in his contagious laughter once again.