Today marks 7 months since Annette Lewis Lear finished her race here on earth and went to be with the Lord. It's still very surreal at times, and I miss the best friend I did everything with every single day. But even through the tough days, such as missing her on my first vacation without her for over 20 years, God graciously brings to mind all the great memories we made together. We served Him together on missions trips, vacationed together, laughed OFTEN AND DAILY, worked on our home together, raised our boys together, and tried to honor Him in our lives and our marriage. There have been many times lately when something neat happened to me, and the first thing I thought of doing was picking up the phone and calling her, which is exactly what I did for over 20 years...she was the one I wanted to tell first about anything good, hard, bad, or happy that happened in my life. But I am adjusting, I am still absolutely trusting God's perfect plan for His ultimate glory. I still know that He has me and the boys in His grip, and that He is doing a great work in our lives and in our futures.
Today, on this 7-month anniversary, I will be spending the day at Annette's favorite place to visit, the beach. I'm sure that there will be great joy watching Brian dig for sand crabs and trying to keep every seashell that he finds. I'm sure there will be waves of emotion that hit me as I recall all the great times and the absolute joy on my Annette's face as she watched the sunset and sunrise like it was either her first or last each time. And I'm sure that God has got me right where He wants me...in total reliance on Him. I look forward to Him allowing me to share our story with men's groups, ladies groups, teens, and individuals. And as a confirmation...I am sitting at Ihop with Brian as I write this and one of the workers brought our meals out. I looked up to ask her if there was anything we could pray about for her, and saw that her name is Annette!! Now, this sweet Caribbean lady did not physically resemble Annette , but what an extra joy to share about our Annette quickly and to tell her how much she loved Jesus!!
Thank you for your continued prayer for us. I got to talk to Michael Lear yesterday, and he's doing well and sounded great (an octave or two lower!). Brian Lear and I are just over half way through our time away from home, and I feel like somewhere around last Wednesday, I finally felt totally relaxed. We are looking forward to visiting many of you on our "tour" home. I can truly feel the words of Paul in Philippians 1:3-5, and can say with confidence that "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
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