So many wonderful thing have been
said. I don't want to try to add to it that much except just to
summarize what I heard in the beautiful words. It's become very
clear to me that Noel loved life and he gave that life away. So
many loves in his life... he loved the outdoors, and what a perfect spot
here tonight to celebrate his life! He would have loved this
place. He loved creation. He loved adventure. We heard
all about that, how he gave his heart and soul into competition.
Someone said Noel's guardian angels had to work overtime to keep him
safe. He was an avid hiker, rock climber, bicyclist, runner,
swimmer, diver; whether he was falling off the roof of his childhood
home or sprinting across the Mojave Desert, he loved adventure and how
appropriate that his last adventure was an around-the-world tour.
More than that, he loved people. He loved you. He touched
people wherever he went. He left a trail of lifelong friends.
Whether he was teaching English to local children in Taiwan, serving
with the River of Dreams, working in a nursing home, group home, or
school; he always loved people. He always stayed true to his word
because he loved people, he wanted to honor them. His craft of
humor was part of that desire to express love. Of all those people
he loved, most of all he loved his family. Mom and dad, brothers
and family, our hearts especially go out to you tonight. I'd just
like to share with you who the family survivors are:
[To read list of
family survivors, click here]
Yes, there are many loves in
Noel's life, many loves that he demonstrated, God's love. There's
one love in his life that is greater than his love for adventure,
greater than his love for people, his family... that is God's love for
Noel. I'd like to paraphrase my favorite verse in the Bible...
For God so love Noel, that He
gave His only son that Noel, who believed in Him, might not perish but
have everlasting life. For God did not send His son to condemn
Noel, but that Noel might have life through Him.
That love of God's is so
incredible, so gracious! Now Noel can celebrate where there is no
more pain, no more tears, no more sorrow... just total, absolute
joy! I would bank my life that if Noel could stand before us today
that that is the greatest gift he would want for each of us... to put
our trust in this God who loves us because now, being on the other side,
Noel knows what life is truly all about. And so I invite
you tonight to let God be your friend, let God come and wrap his arms
around you and be with you tonight in your sorrow and in your joy.
Let's pray...
Loving Lord, we thank you
tonight for the life and love that you gave Noel here on this
earth. And we thank you for the life and the love that he so
generously passed on to each of us here. And we thank you for the
life he now celebrates with you forever. And so Lord, in walking
in his footsteps, we see his fingerprints and footprints of love are all
over us and all over this world. We ask that you would help
us. We put our trust in You tonight as the One who made this
beautiful world for Noel and now has made a place, a wonderful home, in
heaven. We put our trust in You so that we might also experience
that life and that joy and someday see Noel face to face. Thank
you Lord! Amen.
Pastor Paul then offered a minute
of silence to be used by each individual to pray, meditate, give thanks,
etc.
As you leave this area, there are
a couple of people who will hand you a packet of wildflower
seeds.
The family has requested that you
take a packet and spread the seeds where they might grow and give joy to
others in memory of Noel.
And now as you go, may our loving
Lord go with you. May He go before you to show you the way, behind
you to encourage you, beside you to be your friend, above you to watch
over and care for you, and may He be in your heart filling you with His
peace, His power, His perseverance and His joy. In the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
