I was born and raised as a Christian Reformed Pastor’s granddaughter.  I went to Sunday School, and learned all the Bible stories, memorized all the verses, earned all the “memorization reward” cards, earned all the perfect attendance pins, I attended Christian school grades 1-12, I went to catechism and youth group every week,  I sang in the choir in grade school, and in church.  I knew that God reigned over all, and that God existed.  I knew about Jesus and the crucifixion and the Holy Spirit.  I knew that God loved me.

When we are young the concept of time has little meaning.  Days and weeks and months seem to go on forever and there seems to be little awareness that time, our time, ends…until… we experience the end of someone else’s time. My father died when I was 18.  He went to work in the morning and never came home again.  How is a kid to know that time is not guaranteed?  There is no harder lesson than that.