Linden Blues

Last night I got a message I'd hoped wouldn't come for a while. Don Lauderdale tragically lost his 8 month battle with cancer. It was through Don and his lovely wife Helen, that my grandparents Bill & Bettye came to call Linden, Al their home. Together the Lauderdale's gave everything they had to that small church of 25 members and I'm sure Don is now reaping his rewards in Heaven. For those struggling with the loss of Don today, the prayers of my family are with you. Change can so often be a violent unforgiving thing and when it comes all we can ever really do is try to find some peace in the knowledge that someday we will all be together once again. I simply can't say how many more times Helen and my family will ever cross paths, but I hope she knows just how much her and Don have meant to the Becks these past few years.

Unfortunately this latest blow to the Linden community also brings with it news that my grandmother is now ready to move away. We have found my grandfather a new nursing home and for the first time since becoming a preacher's wife, Bettye Beck gets to decide where she wants to live. Within a month she will be living in Montgomery, Al and I'm sure not too long after that the Linden Church of Christ will cease to exist. Like Mr. Don and my grandfather who worked tirelessly to keep it going, it appears the time has come to move on. For Don this means Heaven, for my grandfather it means a comfortable nursing home where he can spend his remaining days watching the Braves struggle to make it to the post season, for my grandmother it's a chance to be surrounded by friends she hasn't seen in years...and for the Church of Linden it more than likely means an empty building will stand as a monument to those that gave their lives to Christ. We all know that The Church is not about one person or one building. The Church revolves around the love of Christ and that love can not be contained by walls of sheet rock or brick.

People come and go in our lives, but Christ's love for us is eternal.