Remembering...Dedicating...and Giving Thanks

It is hard to believe that tomorrow, July 15, 2012 will be one year since David went home to the Lord.  We miss him so very much.  God has faithfully walked with us in our loss and continues to daily comfort us in the midst of our pain. This past year we have seen God’s goodness extended to us in new ways, His mercy and His grace daily overflowing.  We give Him thanks and glory.

We wanted to take this first anniversary and thank you again for your gift to the Senegal Well Project in memory of David.  The well is finally complete! What a difference it is going to make in the lives of the people of Yargouye, Senegal.  Before the well, they were walking 5 miles just to get water for basic needs. Now with water right in the middle of their village they will be able to plant gardens and fruit trees and improve their daily lives.  We give praise to God and dedicate this well for the glory of God, praying that it will be used as an open door for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is Living Water.  It is exactly what David wanted. 

  

Just shortly after David finished his radiation treatments in August 2010 he shared his heart in a blog post dated August 21, 2010. We want to leave you with a quote from that earlier post:

“...one of my favorite theologians, Loraine Boettner...discusses the eternal future

of all who have embraced Jesus Christ as Lord and therefore Savior, he writes:’

The grave, then, is not a blind alley, but a thoroughfare, leading to a much richer life beyond.

This life is but prologue; the primary sphere of our existence lies in the future.

We can attain completeness only in that other realm where there is no more sickness nor death and where progress is always onward and upward.’

Looking forward to the onward and upward. David”

We take comfort in the reality that David is experiencing the onward and upward – and one day, we will join him.

Thank you again, dear friends.  We love you and thank God for each of you and your ministry to our family.

Pam and Family

Thank You

In the next couple of weeks our family will make a final blog post. In the meantime we want to thank you for all of your encouragement, love and prayers over the past 13 months. We are blessed.

Pam and family

Dad's Funeral

As it stands, Dad's Funeral will be this Thursday 7/21/11.

The visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. at Fellowship Bible Church and the Funeral will begin at 11:00 a.m., also at FBC.

Following the Funeral, we will caravan over to Wake Chapel Church for the burial.

The physical address for FBC is:

401 South Main St.
Fuquay-Varina NC 27526

The address for Wake Chapel Church is:

905 Wake Chapel Rd.
Fuquay-Varina NC 27526

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Senegal Mission Fund.
Checks should be made out to Fellowship Bible Church with "Senegal Mission Fund" on the memo line.

The mailing address for Fellowship Bible Church is

P.O. Box 880
Fuquay-Varina NC 27526

Funeral Info

We are waiting for Philip to make it home from Afghanistan. If he makes it home in time, the funeral will be at 11am on Thursday (10am for visitation). If he is later in the week getting home, we will have the service on Saturday morning, same times. Service will be at Fellowship Bible Church in Fuquay-Varina, NC.

In lieu of flowers, Dad asked that donations be made to the Senegal Mission Fund. We have dear friends who serve in Senegal, West Africa which is where Mom and Dad also served for some years. Checks and donations can be made payable/sent to: Fellowship Bible Church
                                            (Senegal Mission Fund or David Carson written on bottom line of check)
                                            401 South Main Street
                                            Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526

We'll keep you posted on Philip's progress getting home!

Faith is now sight.

Daddy is experiencing Heaven! Praise the Lord! The race is finished.

Thoughts from Lydia

The past few days have been difficult for us as David enters this new stage. Lydia, with honesty, has shared her thoughts on her blog. Click the link below to read a daughter's thoughts on watching her dad die.

http://themommypages.blogspot.com/

As always, may God be glorified in all of our responses. Thank you for praying with us that David will soon see his Savior face to face.

Pam

God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

Shortly after David’s surgery last May, after he had bounced back to his almost normal self, he though he would try and write the sequel to his book Maccabee. He discovered he could not. His mind just would not stay focused long enough. So he laid down that dream. But he wasn’t ready to give up on life and ministry. He wanted to use this experience to honor the Lord and maybe encourage others along the way. He thought he might be able to write a short devotional, so he got a legal pad and jotted down some thoughts. I found the legal pad a few months ago. This is as far as he got – the outline (or maybe a partial outline).

Introduction – Learning about having terminal cancer
Chp 1 – A Matter of Perspective
Doctor’s comment about keeping “it” in the background
Keeping eternity in view
Truth
Making sure you are in Christ so you can have a positive perspective
Living in the unseen
Chp 2 – Blessing others with Truth
Demonstrating joy
Chp 3 – Caring for those left behind. Putting house in order

The devotional didn’t get written or rather it didn’t get put on paper. David did write it. Over these past few months he has written it with his life and is still writing it as God says, “not yet. I’m not yet finished with you.”

A month ago we thought God was going to take him home. He didn’t. For the past 3 -4 days he has been sleeping almost around the clock with only short periods of wakefulness. He will still eat a few bites of food (probably the steroids) but is drinking very little. He does not initiate conversation but most of the time he will respond to my simple yes/no questions, though not always. He has periods of being really confused but at other times he understands and responds well. He does not have any problems with knowing who anyone is.

This is where we are today. Only God knows tomorrow.

We are learning in a deeper way that God’s thoughts and ways are not ours. He knows what He is doing and He wants our complete trust, especially when we don’t understand. The journey is not easy but we trust Him to get us there in His perfect time.

Thank you for your continued support to all of our family

Pam