A Tribute to My Spiritual Father and Mother in Christ

My journey to understanding and learning about healthy boundaries started when I was 19yo. I was a college student and had the rare opportunity to live with a  gem of a couple. I thought I was getting a good deal on rent but in fact I was getting a life-time opportunity to observe a godly couple who walked each day by faith watching and rejoicing when our Father provided all their physical needs and paraded the Christ within them to me as I saw their faces light up with the grace that only a righteous holy Father could bestow upon His people.

I lived with John and Lynn Ahrens each summer following each school year. I served on the worship team with them, studied God's Word with them, ate with them, prayed with them. They taught me vital life skills like how to deal with disappointment and sticking to a job even if it looked like it would fail. They taught me to laugh in the devil's face. They taught me to hold someone close who was feeling they would drift from the shore. They taught me that if plan A failed and plan B failed then start over and expect that the new plan A is waiting for you. They taught me to pray and believe even past the point of it looking like a victory in the natural.
 
I think the most important thing they taught me was to watch what I say. If I don't want it to show up in my life then DO NOT SPEAK it. If I want something then speak for that. I really did not grasp this concept in its fullness when I was that young. No, it would not come for decades later that I understood the power of life and death in my tongue but they lovingly and firmly insisted that I speak with godly words proceeding from my mouth while I lived with them. Sometimes I thought they were picking on me. Sometimes I quietly went off and sulked. They knew this. They loved me unconditionally and knew I had a LONG way to go to walking the abundant victorious life in Christ. But they smiled, wrapped their arms around me and treated me like family. For that,  I am thankful.

John graduated yesterday from this schooling ground. He passed from his mortal life into the glorious eternal reward of heaven. His life spent in praising our Savior was rewarded by a peaceful end with family by his side and more people than he could count praying for his journey's end. Mama Lynn and Papa John invested in people while on this planet. Lots of really good seed out there. There are lots of lives changed for the better. I bet Papa is having fun singing in heaven face to face with his Savior. Thank you Savior for comforting Papa John's family during this season of celebrating his life.