A wonderful young man, an awesome witness for God, and pretty good friend, passed away on Monday. In my sadness, I realized an awesome lesson that he was trying to teach, but that I had COMPLETELY overlooked while he was still with us.
Jon was terminally ill from birth - he had cystic fibrosis and diabetes. He wasn't supposed to live past the age of 16-17 years old. He was 25 when he passed away. He was such a sweet kid. Even when you could see in his eyes that he wasn't feeling well - if you asked, he would say "I'm good, got another day - I will be fine." He had to be hospitalized so frequently that the doctors put in a permanent port, near his collarbone so that he didn't have to be poked incessantly. He called these frequent trips to the hospital - Tune Ups.
He would frequently call my husband and say "I'm in for another tune-up, not sure how long I will be here this time."
Jon had 3 major loves in his life: God, playing guitar and working on cars.
He got married at a young age and when his wife began causing some major issues and his marriage fell apart; he picked himself up and said that his life was going on and that God still had plans for him.
Jon never wanted to slow down, he wanted to live his life to the fullest. He would not even think of going on disability, he just knew that someone would hire him and work around his "tune ups." He was right! He got a job working at a mechanics shop and worked his way up to manager. He was thrilled and didn't even mind that he was there so much that it was practically his residence. Those long hours are what contributed to his last tune-up.
He was a happy, bright, handsome, funny and wonderful young man and I will miss him greatly.
The lesson? No matter how sick, tired, beat down, worn out he felt; you would always see a smile on his face, a twinkle in his ornery eyes and he always had something nice to say. One thing you NEVER heard him do? ----- complain.
Thank you, Jesus for sending Jon to all of us that knew him. Thank you Jon for allowing God to use you. I know that you are in Heaven worshipping you Lord and Saviour and you can breath, laugh, sing, and dance for the Lord; all without coughing and choking!