The world needs more eulogys

The world needs more eulogy's.
It's true.

eu·lo·gy
A speech or written tribute, especially praising someone who has died.

I spent some time tonight at a funeral.
It was the funeral of a man named Ron, who went to my church for years.
He meant a lot to me, and to my entire family.

I have actually been to more funerals than I could ever count.
Because my dad is a pastor, He has conducted hundreds of funerals.
Ever since I was about 10 years old, he would often ask me (and my sister) to sing as part of the service.
I have sung at probably a hundred funerals.

Each time I am at a service, I am always amazed at something:

People spend so much time giving eulogy's.
It's like all the years and years of memories are compiled into one long expression of love.
But the thing is? They person they are expressing all this love to can not even hear it!

I spent tonight listening to person after person get up front and share what Ron meant to them.
I heard them say how much he encouraged them.
I heard people express their appreciation for the prayer warrior that Ron was.
They shared how his love for God's Word encouraged them to love God's Word more.

And on and on it went.

I couldn't help but think..did Ron know all these people adored him so much?
Did he know how much it meant to people that he was such a great pray-er?
Did he understand that people appreciated his humor? His smile? His faithfulness?

It was then that I realized.

The world needs more eulogys.

I want to challenge you.
I want to challenge myself.

Compile all your thoughts and feelings towards people you know.
Maybe they are people in your family, maybe they are people you know from your church.
Maybe they are people you know from work.

Then write all the things you appreciate about them.
I mean...really. Write it all down.
It's not going to take you a very long time.
Be specific.
Act like it's actually a eulogy.
Take some time to think about what you love, what you appreciate and what has helped you become a better person because of them.

Then email, mail or text it to the person.

Life is short, people.
We have absolutely no guarantee of tomorrow!

I can't tell you how much it means to me when I get a text or an email from someone expressing how much I mean to them.
It's like the little boost I need to keep me going.

Everyone deserves that.

Make a decision to give this gift of love to a different person every day for a week.
Maybe even for the entire month of December!
Would it be that hard?
And just imagine how much different life would be if we all spent time expressing love and appreciation to people in our lives who are special to us?

Who knows if you will be giving someone just what they need to get them through the day.

So go ahead...Who is your first person going to be?

Let's start a new trend.

Dudes... the world needs more eulogy's.
Let it start with us.
And let it start long before anyone else's funeral.