They are left with something greater than what they came in with

I’ve been to a total of 2 funerals in my life time. I can’t say I know too much about death, but I have some sense as to people’s reactions to it.

There are a few elements that revolve around funerals. Attendance, Presence, and Reflection. First, you are physically in attendance. It is a collective scenario. You, others, as well as the deceased individual. Next, you are present. At first it may seem just like any other event you are attending. But then you realize something. Someone in this room is not alive any longer. They are not like everyone else in the room. That is when you realize you are much more present in this situation than other situations in your week, day, etc. Your presence, or realization of the lack of the deceased person’s presence, puts you in an eerie awe. A confused trance, which leads you to the third element, a reflective wonder. At least with my experience, I was left reflecting. I reflected on the transition from being alive, to not. The transition from being part of breath, being part of the collective, being part of the story, to then being part of ones end.

We have had a total of 7 young ladies travel through our doors in the past 12 months. When you enter our home and look to the left, you will see a string of pictures, each commemorating the time each girl has spent here.  Each departure feeling slightly different than the other. Yet each having the same 3 elements to the reality of their departure. First an attendance to the reality, then a presence of their lack of participation, lastly a reflection of wonder. Except, the reflection of wonder does not leave us thinking of their end. It is indeed the opposite. It reminds us of their progression toward their story, toward their beginning. We always stated we would be a great beginning to a rough start. So we reflect in wonder of what God has done in each girl’s lives. We praise Him for the people, congregations, stories that He placed in their lives during their stay. We applaud and commemorate their accomplishments. We stare in admiration of their transition. No matter the method, no matter the details, we know our creator designs these departures in the best way he knows how. His ways, their stories.

 -House dad Geries