Funeral Minister of Dallas

Southern Gospel - Gaithers - Trio
It is Well With My Soul

Vince Gill
Go Rest High On That Mountain

Funerals

I consider it a privilege to help bereaved
families create meaningful funeral
ceremonies. For men, women and
children alike, death often leaves us
speechless. Funerals, a ritual that has
been with us since the beginning of time,
are here to help us embrace the life that
was lived and support each other as we
go forward.

Funerals provide us the time and place to
confront our pain. Healthy grief means
expressing our painful thoughts and
feelings. To heal in grief, we must shift
our relationship with the person who died
from one of physical presence to one of
memory. The funeral allows us to begin
that shift, for it provides a natural time
and place for us to think about the
moments we shared with the person who
has died, and invites us to focus on our
past relationship with that one single
person and to share those memories with
others, remembering and reflecting in a
service of tribute recognizing the
highlights and major events in the life of
the deceased and the unique
characteristics he or she most
prominently displayed.

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"To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose
under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die." Eccl. 3:1-2

Regular churchgoers' pastors may be
unavailable, or ministers may have
congregations so large that they aren't
acquainted with every member. Sometimes my
funerals are for those who, by choice or
circumstance, have no regular pastor. Just
because they did not attend church doesn't
mean we can't celebrate the life that was. In a
sense, I become their pastor for a time. This is
the time when people are the most vulnerable,
and they need that care and compassion.

A Guide to Grief

What is dying?

I am standing on the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length she hangs
like a speck of white cloud just
where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars
as she was when I saw her.
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
"There, she is gone!",
there are other eyes watching her coming
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
"Here she comes!"

And that is dying

“Death is nothing at all.
It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I,
and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is
untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we
are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy
way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear
no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me,
pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always
was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a
shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it
ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this
death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near, just round the corner.
All is well with my soul."

Henry Scott Holland

Death is Nothing At All

Psa 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Ps 23:3 He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. (NKJ)

Through Jesus Christ, we have healing and restoration in our lives.

God bless you richly.

WHEN TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you.
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way
There's no longing for the past.

You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times
You did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me?"

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

Author Unknown