WHEN WILL YOUR TIME COME?..

I heard someone say the other day, that a young friend of theirs had passed away.....way before their time.  Which caused me to pause and ponder.  Just why would a person say that?   Was it that they felt the person had so much more to offer and it seemed such a tragedy to have lost that opportunity?  And of course, it beckons the response.....in who's time frame did they leave?  Ours or Gods?

Time....before yours, just in the nick of or running out of

Stop and think of some of the people you believe left this earth with a lot left to accomplish.  I'll offer a couple of names and you do the same.  Let's see, how about Jim Morrison, 27-year old leader singer of the Doors, who died of an alleged heroin overdose.  Or Walter Payton. the iconic running back of the Chicago Bears, who at the age of 45, died of a rare liver disease.  Along movie lines, let's mention Philip Seymour Hoffman, the splendid 46-year old who died of a drug overdose.....and of course Robin Williams, who committed suicide at the age of 63.  Even though Williams was older, he seemed far from the of the end of his career.  Somehow there was a disconnect between Williams and the love his audiences had for him.  If....he only knew how much he was loved.

In recent months, Lauren Hill comes to mind.  The 19-year old college basketball player who touched the lives of people in the world of sports and beyond.  Hill was diagnosed with DIPG, a deadly form of brain cancer, after she committed to play college basketball at Mount St. Joseph.  She ended up scoring in her college debut and would go on to score 10 points in four games that she played. Eventually the disease would make her too weak to play, but she was named an honorary captain for the program around the same time that she was admitted to hospice care.

DIPG may have taken Lauren’s health, but it never killed her spirit. She rasied more than $1 million for DIPG research by launching campaigns like Layup 4 Lauren Challenge, which capitalized on the virality of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Here's a list of some other notables who passed away with much accomplished and much more anticipated:

Jimi Hendrix-27
Princess Di-36
John Kennedy-46
Martin Luther King-39
John Lennon-40
Elvis Presley-42
Marilyn Monroe-36
Thurman Munson-32
Lou Gehrig-37
Buddy Holly-22
Richie Valens-17
James Dean-24

That is a pretty impressive list.  Some made their marks and others were on their way....much like,
Skye McCole Bartusiak who died in her sleep at the age of 21, in July 2014.  Her death was ultimately ruled an overdose.  She died due to the combined effects of hydrocodone and difluoroethane with carisoprodol.  The child star was known for her role as Mel Gibson's daughter in "The Patriot".

Skye after her "Patriot" performance

As I was preparing to write about your time and my time, this came my way.   Although something tells me it was in his time---When Robin Ventura took over as Chicago White Sox manager prior to the start of the 2012 season, one of his first official actions had very little to do with baseball.  It also stood out as one of the most important ones of his now four-year tenure.

Ventura journeyed from California to Chicago to take an on-stage part in Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol on Dec. 21, 2011, joined by then 9-year-old Emily Beazley, who had recently been diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.  The Chicago native had a wish to someday be a star, but on that particular night, Emily was happy to make a cameo with a character featuring her same name, while Ventura played Mr. Ventura.

"Today, she said she might get founded, those are her words," said her emotional mother, Nadia, of her daughter's acting opportunity in '11 provided by Goodman Theatre and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Emily never had the chance to win an Academy Award, an Emmy or a Tony.  At the age of 12, she sadly lost her battle with cancer on Monday. But she inspired too many to count during her valiant battle against this insidious disease.

A tough little kid.....Emily Beazley

"She was a tough kid going through something unimaginable," said Ventura, speaking prior to Tuesday's contest against the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field. "Her attitude, being upbeat the way she was through it all, you learn things.  You get a perspective on what is important."

A special tribute was paid to Emily in the White Sox game notes, with condolences wished to her friends and family.  Emily was at U.S. Cellular Field with her family on Mother's Day, throwing out one of the ceremonial first pitches to Ventura.  She received numerous honors from her Mount Greenwood community prior to her passing, as well as receiving a special phone call from Taylor Swift.

"Her and the family and everything the community did for her was incredible," said Ventura, a parent to four children with his wife, Stephanie. "She jammed a lot in in 12 years, especially the last three to four.  Your heart breaks.  It's incredibly sad."

But as sad as it is we have to reflect on timing.  If we say someone passed before their time....was it really? 
 

God will work things out in your life if you trust in him. It is possible that you may have to go through certain trials and wait for his answers ... 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.' Romans 8:28
God has plans for your life. He knows everything about you. He made you. He loves you, as the following selection of verses from Psalm 139 confirms:

  O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

³ Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

⁵ Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,

 

As we so often hear when someone passes....."cherish this time.  Appreciate what you have".  Know many of us, won't be let in when our time is up or for that fact, if it's right around the corner.  It will be in his time, not ours.....and not one second sooner.

 

YGG,

 

John