When Shaun leaves for work earlier than normal, he rarely wakes me up. I was surprised when he woke me up on this Monday morning. It was to share the heartbreaking news about Ryan. Shaun's dear friend had passed away in a tragic car accident the day before, along with his five year old daughter. He left behind a beautiful wife and a seven year old daughter. At that point, we did not realize just how much that event would impact our testimonies and life.
Ryan was a remarkable father, friend and disciple. When I made Shaun a birthday video for his 30th birthday full of messages from friends and family, Ryan's stood out to me. He somehow included an eternal perspective and testimony along with Shaun's birthday message. Now it's something we'll look back on and love even more. We have a trip to Spain planned in a few weeks which will now be more special for Shaun. He'll be able to go back and visit some cities that he and Ryan opened together on their missions 11 years ago.
A few months before his passing, he posted an instagram with a caption that has since touched thousands of people. It was also included in the program for his funeral service.
It was a giant wakeup call for us. The wakeup call didn't come because we are on the wrong path, but it just let us reevaluate the right path and how it IS the path that leads us home. I think right now the church is hitting the "uphill, less traveled and unpopular" part for a lot of people but we have to keep remembering and looking for the beautiful breathtaking parts.
In closing, I just wanted to leave a link to a short blog post that his wife wrote recently. It includes a quick passage that Ryan wrote to his family a few years back about a question he had and got an answer to on his mission. That question was, why do great men fall? I absolutely loved it. Please read:
"After our victories, don't take a break, because it is after the victory that we truly have a success or not.."
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