April and May have come and gone. I have turned the calendar page to June.  Spring was but a brief dance as we await the slow, warm interlude of summer. It’s funny how sometimes things happen that are so precious, so important that we think the world must stop spinning.  Everyone should stand still and linger over the notes of what has happened.  Yet, the symphony keeps playing, the minutes tick by, the calendar pages turn, and we want to shout: “Wait!  Something beautiful yet devastating has happened!  Grocery lists and errands must cease.  Just sit with me in this sacred space. Please.”

I have a friend.  I had a friend.  No, I have a friend.  She has been a part of my life for 22 and a half years.  That’s almost as long as my youngest child has lived. My friend was kind, loving, funny, opinionated, and strong. She created beautiful dresses for my daughter and baked cookies from scratch that should have been marketed internationally.  I’m certain those cookies could have brought about world peace simply on their own delectable merits.

My friend loved God.  My friend loves God. She prayed for me, my kids, and she always thought of others’ needs before her own.  She was a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

My friend was a fighter. My friend is a fighter. She sparred with cancer for nearly 18 years, and then somehow in the midst of her battle she made friends with her illness. She learned how to uncover Joy amidst the ruins of chemotherapy and Hope in the catacombs of radiation.

My friend was a thinker- a planner.  My friend is a thinker- a planner.  She harnessed her energy to find ways to leave pieces of herself behind for those who loved her.  E-mails, hand-written notes and cards, encouraging voice-mails, incredible hand-made quilts for grandbabies she might never hold.

My friend was a Jesus-follower. My friend is a Jesus-follower. She worshiped with a passion, a deep devotion that is uncommon- extraordinary. My friend never hesitated to use her story to point others to Jesus. She used her life, her circumstance to give God Glory.

I uncovered this e-mail treasure from her the other day. She sent it to me the summer of my breast cancer surgery.  I was stuck.  Stuck in a pit of sadness. She knew I was stuck and sent me a lifeline:

“Here’s a song for us to learn:

Hallelujah, Anyhow…

Never, Never let your problems get you down.

When life’s problems come your way,

Hold your head up high and say,

Hallelujah, Anyhow!”

My friend died. My friend passed. My friend lives. The world may not stop spinning.  We will still run our errands, balance our checkbooks, and hit the snooze button on our alarm clocks. But, deep in my spirit I know that an incredibly beautiful, devastating event took place.  My world shifted and my friend exited this temporal moment and entered the bliss of Eternity with Her Creator, Her Savior.

Yes, “Hallelujah, Anyhow…”