Young widow, Kimberli Lira, explains how her husband's death has made her view church initiatives in a new way. My social media feeds are full of churches boasting about the trendy new initiatives they have begun. I see pictures of Starbucks style coffee bars. I hear about lighting sequences that resemble a Broadway show. I read catchy sermon titles that incorporate movies and popular culture.
On 14th February 2017, my life changed. My husband passed away after a two year battle with cancer.
To say he battled cancer is an understatement. Over the first year he was hospitalized 18 times, for two weeks out of every month. He was rushed to the emergency room eight times and spent hundreds of days separated from our two children. Eventually the chemo, the treatment designed to get rid of the cancer, caused paralysis. For the last four months of his life he was paralyzed and confined to a bed.
But throughout the cycles of chemo, throughout the separation from his children night after night, throughout listening to doctors telling him bad news after bad news, he never once said how much he appreciated the coffee bar at church.
Not once did he say that he loved the lighting in the sanctuary.
He never told me how cool it was that they put a couch on the platform.
He didn’t boast about the use of graphics and props.
