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I’ve done a lot of thinking this week. My friends, the Dingler family, have been in the forefront of my mind for the better part of the past 6 days. I’ve known their son, Joshua Dingler, for about 3 years now. When we moved to the Atlanta area, one of the first families we got to know was the Dingler family. They treat and love my family like their own, and they mean a lot to me.

Joshua was about 16 when I first got to know him. We worked together some in church activities, and I got to know him more as I was moving into the sound booth at church. Joshua was always willing to help a friend. I remember one time he helped me move a desk. I don’t even remember why I had to move it, but I remember him going out of his way to be available to lend a hand. He always wanted to help.

I suppose that his servant’s heart and his approach to life is what led him to join the Army. He wanted to help the people of Iraq. Joshua went to Iraq this summer, not as a soldier with orders, but as an American excited about lending a hand in the freeing of a nation.

This week Joshua gave his life for that freedom. He is a hero to America for the freedoms he was protecting, and he is a hero to the people in Iraq for the freedoms he was fighting to give.

Dealing with this loss of a friend has been hard for me. I don’t really feel bad for Joshua; he’s in a much better place and in much better company. My heart breaks for his parents and his brother because of the times they are going through. And the hard part in dealing with this is that I’m not sure what to do about it. I talked to Tommy (Joshua’s dad) the other day and felt like an idiot because I didn’t have anything to say. I just said that we were praying for them, and that I’m available if they need me for anything. Anything more than that just seemed too trite to say.

I think about my life between May and August, and how much it hasn’t changed. This week, when I go to the funeral home to see Joshua’s family, and then when I go to the funeral, I’ll pay a well deserved “thank you” to a fallen hero, and I’ll say a painful farewell to a friend. And I’ll make myself available to a family of friends whose lives are forever changed. The more I think about this, the more speechless it leaves me…their lives are changed forever because Joshua was willing to pay the ultimate price so that my life wouldn’t change. That sounds like the Gospel to me.

Thanks, Joshua.