Year End Dividend

2008 has been a year of economic failure. This morning Bloomberg Television announced that the world stock markets have lost $300 trillion. I went online and saw an article about how much various billionaires have lost this year. Certainly, the concept of "loss" has colored some of the pages of this blog. In 2008 I "lost" Nancy.

But a story resurfaced as I thought of how to close the books on this year. One night after we moved to Keystone Hospice the family gathered around her in her room. Anne's mom Karen put in a worship CD.

Soon we came to the song, "Give Me, Jesus." I held her close as we joined in on the last verse:

"And When I come to die,

And When I come to die,

And When I come to die,

Give me Jesus.

You can have all this world

Give me Jesus"

That night we were echoing the song she first began singing on Easter Sunday 1971 when she gave her life to Christ. We just repeated the words she could no longer speak for herself. Only a few days later, she lost her hold on this life and gained all of Jesus. In that moment she experienced the reality of Philippians 1:20, "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

When you hear reviews of the winners and losers of 2008 count Nancy one of the big winners. She now knows what the rest of us labor to believe. And lest you wonder how I tally up my own ledger, the 33 years she invested in me left me a wealthy man.

And thus ends the journey for 2008