This is a blast from the past, at least for those of us old enough to remember Dallas Holm and Praise, and his 1977 mega-hit “I Will Rise Again”:

I have listened to “I Will Rise Again” multiple times recently, and it takes me back to a crucial time in my life. The song came out in 1977 which was the year Stu Weber and his wife Linda and my wife Nanci and I and many of our closest friends were planting our church, when I was 22 and Stu was 31. (Now I’m 70! You can do the math on Stu.) I vividly remember listening to that song repeatedly the first few years of our church, and it was a source of great blessing to Nanci and to me and to what became Good Shepherd Community Church.

Dallas wrote me not long ago to share that his wife Linda went home to Heaven in December after battling breast cancer for 37 years. He wrote on his website:

In going through Linda’s things in recent days, I came across several notebooks which she had written in over the years; usually as she was having her daily time of Bible study and prayer.

The following illuminates the depth of her understanding of Scripture and the level of intimacy she maintained always with our Lord and Savior.

In reading one verse in Proverbs 30:31 which describes things that are stately when they walk, she expressed herself fully from just the one line, “A king with his army around him.”

Linda wrote, “My mind went straight to You Lord, and how true this is. You are praised by Your army. Your army is made up of totally weak, inadequate, sinful people who have been pursued, redeemed, equipped, trained, and made ready by Your Blood, by Your Wisdom, by Your Strength, Your Love, and Your great Promises. You are lifted high. You Lord Jesus are so very generous. You give always and then You promise to share through eternity. Your ‘army’ brings nothing. We come to You sad and broken, full of rot, and You give joy for sins forgiven! You give wholeness in spirit, mind, and body. You give strength, wisdom, purpose, and You equip perfectly. You meet every need, each desire, and Your timing is perfect! My response is to bow in awe, to cry tears of amazement, to rejoice and express my gratefulness in living for You; displaying my relationship with You to those I come in contact with. Jesus…be lifted up! I place You high and look to You for everything. Great are You my King!”

Scripture says that, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Linda has spoken. Her words are saturated with Godly perspective and deep gratitude. I miss everything about Linda; her joy and laughter, her breathtaking beauty, her grace and poise, but most of all, her inner, spiritual strength and holy centeredness.

She was (and is) a truly amazing woman! I will see her again, and…next time it will be forever!

Thank you, Jesus, that Linda and Nanci and all who have placed their trust in you will not only be with you, and each other in your presence, but will one day rise and return with the One who rose again!  

Photo: Unsplash