As some of you may know, Robert Monson's little brothers, Alec and Lewis, tragically drowned last Saturday. Tonight we had a memorial for them at our church. Out of all the memorials I've been to, this one seemed to be one of the most heart wrenching. Obviously, a lot of the sorrow comes from the loss of life. While I did know the two brothers, their death didn't pain me as much as I thought it would. What really hurt for me was the sight of their older siblings, Robert Jamel and Tamika, in such pain. I cannot imagine what it must be like for them. Alec and Lewis had spent the last month with Robert and Jamel at IHOPKC. Last Friday, Robert dropped them off in Carbondale and they were going to get a ride to their home in Kentucky. They went swimming in a pool at the place where they were staying. And sadly, no one else was around, and they both drowned in the deep end of the pool.
The memorial tonight was sobering. I kept on wondering what to say to the Monsons, I was lost for words. I mean you're excited to see your friend, but under these circumstances, you can't go up to them and begin normal conversation. Especially when they're crying from the loss of a sibling. All I could to was pray that God would give me right words.Thankfully He did.
After the memorial there was a Wake, and we all got to eat and fellowship. It was nice to see Robert and everyone else lighten up a little bit, and we were able to catch up some. We also got to talk to a guy who teaches at IHOP. Before the memorial started, he came to YHOP for a while. It was pretty interesting to have him there, since we rarely get visitors. But it was a blessing having him there. We got to talk to him afterwards and he said that even though we had some rough points, it was really anointed and a blessing for him. He even said it liked it as much if not better than The Prayer Room. So that was definitely an encouragement for us.
