Wow. I'm not quite where to start. I'll start off by being honest...this is going to be a long one! But I hope you read it all anyway!
As most of you know, today was the funeral for Jeff and Jeremy Hutchison. I had the hardest time sleeping last night. Just kept thinking about today...what it would be like...how hard it was going to be. So by time 6:30am rolled around, I was EXHAUSTED and I was just getting out of bed.
We started off the morning early...making our way over to the church to help set up. We knew it would be packed but by 9:00am, people were already starting to show up...and the funeral wasn't beginning til 10:30am. I spent the majority of the morning outside...at the doors, welcoming people in. Yes, it was a sad day but we definitely wanted people to feel welcomed and loved...it's what Jeff would have done for sure!
By 10:00am, all of the seats inside the sanctuary were gone. And they set up 450!!! And by time the service started, people were standing lined against the walls and the back and THEN there were people in the hallway to the right of the sanctuary and in the narthex. I'm sure there were quite a few people who couldn't even see the majority of the service because of where they were. But no one seemed to care. They were there. That was enough. (We're guessing there were about 650 people there!)
As the service started, I wasn't sure how things were going to be. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to watch so many people cry and watch the family...I just wasn't sure I could do it. The service started with John Kuhns, a long time member of Gardendale, playing his guitar and singing Amazing Grace. And that was just the beginning of an AMAZING day.
I don't know how to explain it so I'm just going to try to give you an idea of what we experienced today. Pastor Terry spoke a little at first...getting choked up a few times. Then Justin (the youth pastor) got up to spoke and it was amazing to hear how much Jeff and Jeremy (and Joel) had touched his life. He told a story of how the youth had painted the youth room and Jeremy and Joel had come to him wanting to know if they could put their name on the wall. Justin told them no but that when they were old enough to be in the youth they could. (I imagine I'm not giving this story anywhere near the amount of emotion Justin did earlier.) He said they would away so disappointed. So he pulled them aside and showed them a spot on the wall and told them they could put their initials there and then when they were in the youth, they could put their whole name on the wall. And if you go inside the youth room, there on one of the walls are two J's. One in white and one in black. I can't imagine how that must feel to Justin. So glad that he gave those boys the chance to at least put their initial on the wall. And knowing he came so close to not having that memory of Jeremy on the youth wall. Wow...
Justin also spoke of Jeff and what a great encouragment he was to him...and it was something that so many of us could relate with. Jeff was a great encouragement to everyone he came across. And as I stood there listening to Justin today, I thought to myself, "Man, I want to be just like Jeff Hutchison when I grow up." Sounds silly to you maybe but even if you didn't know Jeff well, it only did a few minutes of being in that room today to know that this was a man after God's own heart...a man who spent his days trying to be more like Jesus. I want to be Jeff when I grow up!!!
Gerbert was next. And it was just great to have Gerbert back in Gardendale and side by side with Pastor Terry and Justin. Jeff would have been so excited! And in old Gerbert style, he shared some great, funny, heart warming stories of Jeff and all kinds of fun stories about the boys. And it was fun to watch him during the service because even though you could only see a little bit of Joel, it was clear that he was making faces and exchanging all kinds of fun looks with Gerbert and Gerbert played along...just like he always does.
Then Jeff's brother spoke. Jon was actually my youth pastor for a little while towards the end of my senior year. I remember when I first met Jon. Something was going on at the church during and evening and here he comes (with his cute little ears) down the aisle putting out pieces of brightly colored paper. I had no idea who our new youth pastor was supposed to be but I thought, "I gotta say hi to this guy. He looks like fun!" So I did and I immediately adored this man. He wasn't with us long but I'll never forget those few months with him and the impact he had on my life. And so when I saw him today, even though I wish I could have seen him under different circumstances, I was so glad!!! Jeff was so proud of him and the man and youth pastor he had become.
And in Jon fashion, he began his part of the service was some good laughs. But then he looked around and he looked down at his mom and dad, got choked up and said, "Look, Mom, they're even standing for Jeff." My heart broke. When I thought about all of the people that were going to miss Jeff, I thought about his immediate family and things like that. And then I saw Jon up there and how much he loved his brother and how much he was going to miss him. But at the same time, how proud he was and how glad he was that so many people loved his brother. Wow. Amazing.
Jon stared lots of stories about Jeff. Many things I didn't even know! But so many things we can definitely learn from. One of the things that stood out to me was when he talked about how Jeff didn't pay much attention to time. Jeff never wore a watch. He was never in a rush to get anywhere! He could be in the middle of doing something and if he saw someone, he's stop and talk to them. It didn't matter much to him what he needed to do, people came first. He said Jeff would say that he could always do the work later, he may not see those people later. How awesome is that? Wouldn't it be awesome to live like that? I mean we all have jobs and obviously those are important but wouldn't it be awesome to be able to say, "I can do this later. I need to make time for this person." The question really is, why don't we???
Jon also talked about how when they were kids and how his curfew was midnight but he was always trying to push it. But no matter what time he came up, Jeff was up waiting for him. And later on Jeff told him that he was up praying for him...praying that Jon would make Godly decisions and that he would be safe. And then Jon would come home at night, Jeff would take out his guitar and sing them all to sleep.
Throughout the service everyone talked about the faith of this family. And not just Jeff, Joyce and the kids. But Jeff's parents and siblings. And Joyce's parents and siblings. Joel didn't pray to God to bring someone to save him because he didn't know what else to do...he did it because it was the ONLY thing he knew to do. He had faith beyond anything most of us can even comprehend. He knew that God was in control and he was alive at that moment for a reason...and that God would send someone for him. What an amazing little boy. What a miracle. What a testimony.
At the beginning of the service (sorry, I just thought of this), Pastor Terry played a song. It was the Lord's Prayer. But unlike anything most of us had heard. It was a child's version of the song...the child version that Joel sang while in the hospital surrounded by a ton of nurses. Most of us wouldn't even know what to do in that situation. That little boy sang exactly what was on his heart...the Lord's Prayer. I get goose bumps thinking about...
I've got a lot of things to share but I know I need to call it a night. I promise to share more tomorrow. I have plenty more to share! Let me share this though. Before 9:30am, a fire truck pulled up. I didn't realize Jeff had also been a volunteer fire fighter. So people from his department had shown up and were there to celebrate his life and be a part of this day. (The news...well, TONS of news stations...also showed up. But they were kept at bay. During the funeral, someone held them off and kept them down at the end of the drive. And after the burial, the news from Toledo was still there but Pastor Terry went outside to speak to them so that they couldn't come inside.) And after the service, the longest funeral procession I've ever seen left the church, led by the fire department. I didn't go to the burial...so I could be at the church to help. But here's a few stories I was told about when they came back.
On their way to the cemetery, they passed the school Jeremy went to and all of the students and all of the teachers were standing outside holding a LARGE banner that read "We Miss You, Jeremy." And I think it was Christyl who told me that you could see some of those kids and teachers crying as the procession went past. So many lives touched by one 9 year old little boy.
And then there were balloons released at the burial (I didn't catch the beginning of the story) and they balloons separated and many people said as they looked up, one balloon was by itself and the wind caught it in just a way that the string made a "J." Doesn't matter if you were there to see it or not, to a lot of people that meant the world.
It was a sad day, don't get me wrong. But it was an amazing day. Truly a celebration of the life Jeff and Jeremy lived...and the lives of so many others. There's no way you left that building today the same way you entered. The lives of so many people will be forever changed. I know mine will.
I'm not one of those people that believes our loved ones can see funerals from Heaven! We know there's no more pain in Heaven and I know that if Jeff (and Jeremy) had looked down and seen his family and friends in pain, it would have caused him pain as well. But I do believe many people today made a committment...they left that building as Christians...and I believe that as God was writing those names in the Book of Life, he let Jeff take a peak. Because there's nothing on this earth that would have made Jeff any happier than knowing that more people had to know the Lord. And today, many did...all because they saw Jesus through Jeff and Jeremy (and our 7 year old Joel). Absolutely amazing....
As most of you know, today was the funeral for Jeff and Jeremy Hutchison. I had the hardest time sleeping last night. Just kept thinking about today...what it would be like...how hard it was going to be. So by time 6:30am rolled around, I was EXHAUSTED and I was just getting out of bed.
We started off the morning early...making our way over to the church to help set up. We knew it would be packed but by 9:00am, people were already starting to show up...and the funeral wasn't beginning til 10:30am. I spent the majority of the morning outside...at the doors, welcoming people in. Yes, it was a sad day but we definitely wanted people to feel welcomed and loved...it's what Jeff would have done for sure!
By 10:00am, all of the seats inside the sanctuary were gone. And they set up 450!!! And by time the service started, people were standing lined against the walls and the back and THEN there were people in the hallway to the right of the sanctuary and in the narthex. I'm sure there were quite a few people who couldn't even see the majority of the service because of where they were. But no one seemed to care. They were there. That was enough. (We're guessing there were about 650 people there!)
As the service started, I wasn't sure how things were going to be. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to watch so many people cry and watch the family...I just wasn't sure I could do it. The service started with John Kuhns, a long time member of Gardendale, playing his guitar and singing Amazing Grace. And that was just the beginning of an AMAZING day.
I don't know how to explain it so I'm just going to try to give you an idea of what we experienced today. Pastor Terry spoke a little at first...getting choked up a few times. Then Justin (the youth pastor) got up to spoke and it was amazing to hear how much Jeff and Jeremy (and Joel) had touched his life. He told a story of how the youth had painted the youth room and Jeremy and Joel had come to him wanting to know if they could put their name on the wall. Justin told them no but that when they were old enough to be in the youth they could. (I imagine I'm not giving this story anywhere near the amount of emotion Justin did earlier.) He said they would away so disappointed. So he pulled them aside and showed them a spot on the wall and told them they could put their initials there and then when they were in the youth, they could put their whole name on the wall. And if you go inside the youth room, there on one of the walls are two J's. One in white and one in black. I can't imagine how that must feel to Justin. So glad that he gave those boys the chance to at least put their initial on the wall. And knowing he came so close to not having that memory of Jeremy on the youth wall. Wow...
Justin also spoke of Jeff and what a great encouragment he was to him...and it was something that so many of us could relate with. Jeff was a great encouragement to everyone he came across. And as I stood there listening to Justin today, I thought to myself, "Man, I want to be just like Jeff Hutchison when I grow up." Sounds silly to you maybe but even if you didn't know Jeff well, it only did a few minutes of being in that room today to know that this was a man after God's own heart...a man who spent his days trying to be more like Jesus. I want to be Jeff when I grow up!!!
Gerbert was next. And it was just great to have Gerbert back in Gardendale and side by side with Pastor Terry and Justin. Jeff would have been so excited! And in old Gerbert style, he shared some great, funny, heart warming stories of Jeff and all kinds of fun stories about the boys. And it was fun to watch him during the service because even though you could only see a little bit of Joel, it was clear that he was making faces and exchanging all kinds of fun looks with Gerbert and Gerbert played along...just like he always does.
Then Jeff's brother spoke. Jon was actually my youth pastor for a little while towards the end of my senior year. I remember when I first met Jon. Something was going on at the church during and evening and here he comes (with his cute little ears) down the aisle putting out pieces of brightly colored paper. I had no idea who our new youth pastor was supposed to be but I thought, "I gotta say hi to this guy. He looks like fun!" So I did and I immediately adored this man. He wasn't with us long but I'll never forget those few months with him and the impact he had on my life. And so when I saw him today, even though I wish I could have seen him under different circumstances, I was so glad!!! Jeff was so proud of him and the man and youth pastor he had become.
And in Jon fashion, he began his part of the service was some good laughs. But then he looked around and he looked down at his mom and dad, got choked up and said, "Look, Mom, they're even standing for Jeff." My heart broke. When I thought about all of the people that were going to miss Jeff, I thought about his immediate family and things like that. And then I saw Jon up there and how much he loved his brother and how much he was going to miss him. But at the same time, how proud he was and how glad he was that so many people loved his brother. Wow. Amazing.
Jon stared lots of stories about Jeff. Many things I didn't even know! But so many things we can definitely learn from. One of the things that stood out to me was when he talked about how Jeff didn't pay much attention to time. Jeff never wore a watch. He was never in a rush to get anywhere! He could be in the middle of doing something and if he saw someone, he's stop and talk to them. It didn't matter much to him what he needed to do, people came first. He said Jeff would say that he could always do the work later, he may not see those people later. How awesome is that? Wouldn't it be awesome to live like that? I mean we all have jobs and obviously those are important but wouldn't it be awesome to be able to say, "I can do this later. I need to make time for this person." The question really is, why don't we???
Jon also talked about how when they were kids and how his curfew was midnight but he was always trying to push it. But no matter what time he came up, Jeff was up waiting for him. And later on Jeff told him that he was up praying for him...praying that Jon would make Godly decisions and that he would be safe. And then Jon would come home at night, Jeff would take out his guitar and sing them all to sleep.
Throughout the service everyone talked about the faith of this family. And not just Jeff, Joyce and the kids. But Jeff's parents and siblings. And Joyce's parents and siblings. Joel didn't pray to God to bring someone to save him because he didn't know what else to do...he did it because it was the ONLY thing he knew to do. He had faith beyond anything most of us can even comprehend. He knew that God was in control and he was alive at that moment for a reason...and that God would send someone for him. What an amazing little boy. What a miracle. What a testimony.
At the beginning of the service (sorry, I just thought of this), Pastor Terry played a song. It was the Lord's Prayer. But unlike anything most of us had heard. It was a child's version of the song...the child version that Joel sang while in the hospital surrounded by a ton of nurses. Most of us wouldn't even know what to do in that situation. That little boy sang exactly what was on his heart...the Lord's Prayer. I get goose bumps thinking about...
I've got a lot of things to share but I know I need to call it a night. I promise to share more tomorrow. I have plenty more to share! Let me share this though. Before 9:30am, a fire truck pulled up. I didn't realize Jeff had also been a volunteer fire fighter. So people from his department had shown up and were there to celebrate his life and be a part of this day. (The news...well, TONS of news stations...also showed up. But they were kept at bay. During the funeral, someone held them off and kept them down at the end of the drive. And after the burial, the news from Toledo was still there but Pastor Terry went outside to speak to them so that they couldn't come inside.) And after the service, the longest funeral procession I've ever seen left the church, led by the fire department. I didn't go to the burial...so I could be at the church to help. But here's a few stories I was told about when they came back.
On their way to the cemetery, they passed the school Jeremy went to and all of the students and all of the teachers were standing outside holding a LARGE banner that read "We Miss You, Jeremy." And I think it was Christyl who told me that you could see some of those kids and teachers crying as the procession went past. So many lives touched by one 9 year old little boy.
And then there were balloons released at the burial (I didn't catch the beginning of the story) and they balloons separated and many people said as they looked up, one balloon was by itself and the wind caught it in just a way that the string made a "J." Doesn't matter if you were there to see it or not, to a lot of people that meant the world.
It was a sad day, don't get me wrong. But it was an amazing day. Truly a celebration of the life Jeff and Jeremy lived...and the lives of so many others. There's no way you left that building today the same way you entered. The lives of so many people will be forever changed. I know mine will.
I'm not one of those people that believes our loved ones can see funerals from Heaven! We know there's no more pain in Heaven and I know that if Jeff (and Jeremy) had looked down and seen his family and friends in pain, it would have caused him pain as well. But I do believe many people today made a committment...they left that building as Christians...and I believe that as God was writing those names in the Book of Life, he let Jeff take a peak. Because there's nothing on this earth that would have made Jeff any happier than knowing that more people had to know the Lord. And today, many did...all because they saw Jesus through Jeff and Jeremy (and our 7 year old Joel). Absolutely amazing....
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