by Outreach Of Hope
Debbie wasn’t the least bit concerned when her husband, sports agent Van Ardan, climbed aboard a Lear jet with his good friends, Robert Fraley and Payne Stewart. It was a clear, crisp, October morning—a great day to fly—but after takeoff something went terribly wrong. For reasons yet unknown, the plane continued on autopilot for four hours until, watched by the world on CNN, it crashed in a desolate pasture in South Dakota. The love of Debbie’s life and companion of her dreams disappeared into thin air that day. During the months that followed, she found it difficult, as a grieving widow and single parent, to pick up the pieces and chart a new course. Then she read a passage of the Bible that forever changed her perspective on life. “This verse ignited my heart with purpose and has given me more comfort than any other verse in the Bible, but you will never see it on a sympathy card. The verse is Acts 13:36, (NASB) and it says, ‘David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep.’ I know that Van in some way had served the purposes of God in his own generation. His work finished, I know he didn’t leave the earth a second too soon. I also find in this verse comfort and motivation for my life today. I know that because I am still alive I have not yet fully served the purposes of God in my generation. So every morning, when my eyes open up to the sunshine, is a divine reminder that God still has work for me to do.”
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