Rome, GA!!! You sure do know how to make a girl feel loved! You heard my pleas, formed the strongest army ever for me and helped me crush this surgery. Most of you know the story of losing our dear friend, Shane Richardson to cancer 10 years ago.  His life was amazing, but what I witnessed in his death was the most influential thing I’ve ever experienced. I always wondered why the Lord picked me to be included during that time-DeAnn his wife is a prolific writer blogger and her words ooze with His Spirit, my husband has the ability to speak to a person and leave them feeling loved from head to toe. So, I knew why everyone else was involved but not sure why I was. I'm just a “behind the scenes girl,” but I promised Him I would use it however He wanted me to.  

Now, I find myself feeling that same familiar feeling. Why does He want to use me, Laura Getchell, in this capacity?  It’s obvious He does and I’m okay with that!  I am not angry but feel a little inadequate to do this mighty job! Again, not angry but oh so willing to be obedient in how He wants to use this and me. I have lots of words and want to be positive that those are HIS not mine!!!! So, as our good friend Bill has said- we are letting God have the pen to allow Him to write this story. Thankfully He is the author and He knows the beginning, middle and end.  Letting you all have a glimpse of this chapter as He continues to write.
 
So, I arrived at my surgery at Redmond on Wednesday morning to be greeted by a host of friends and pastors. There was a tent which really made me laugh! ET evidently knows how to throw a cool tailgate party, even during brain surgery! I was treated a little bit like a celebrity haha, apparently brain surgery allows you this, Rome Fire Department even showed up with a big engine and left with sirens blaring (I’d like to say the siren was for me but they actually had a call but I am saying it was definitely for me-insert smiley emoji.) I can hardly explain how entering the hospital felt that day. I have to describe it as God rolling out the red carpet for me and feeling like He was telling me “Come in , my Princess.”  From walking into the lobby and being greeted by a dear church friend and her big smile that I have not seen in years,  to a welcomed fierce hug for this ole porcupine from a  student’s mom.  It seems that in His sweet fashion He had prepared for me with each smiling familiar face, down to the smallest of details.  He was there!!!!  He was not only there inside the hospital but He was there on the outside too.  I love seeing the pictures of my army rising up in their uniforms of “stronger together” and “Waymaker, Raise a Hallelujah” t-shirts.  To know that those I love and care for were holding vigil outside on my behalf gave me an indescribable courage and strength.  Every text and email that was sent was taken to heart and gave me a strength that I know was directly from God.  Knowing full-well He put on the hearts of so many the needs and desires for that day. To know my people were loving on the people who love me warmed my heart and was such a sweet testament that the Lord had no boundaries.
And then to know that each of you were encouraging each other when a 3 hour surgery turned into a 7 hour surgery, during storms, that made for a very long day. Thank you all so much!!!

So the 7 hour surgery was due to a large vessel that was right over the tumor.  Thankful for Dr. Webb’s patience and expertise of meticulously removing the tumor while salvaging the vein, preventing seizures, and keeping all things “stroke related” away. Thankful that he wasn't worried about time and thankful for his attention to every single detail. I think the  best part of the day was when I woke up from anesthesia and was actually laughing! Oh, how I praised  the Lord that He had left my sense of humor intact!! This girl needs her sense of humor!!! AND, on top of that, Jesus put me in the sweetest spot ever and I was awakened  by allowing Kari Jobe to serenade me with  “You Are Not alone!” over me all night long.  I literally felt angels singing over me. 
I have been totally humbled by 2 of the most selfless gentlemen that are still dealing with their own grief, hurt, PTSD fresh around them.  Somehow they managed  to put on their armor, find my husband, drag him through battle with fresh hurt still on their minds but all the while with such a sweet smile of contentment that they were more than willing to offer.   They literally stand in the gap. There’s just something about seeing a genuine smile from a survivor. Not a promise that it’ll turn out the way I want it or that it will be easy. Just a little nudge that Jesus will show me the way. 
So that leads me to where we are now.  The Lord gives me “themes” for seasons I go through. With Shane’s diagnosis, I asked Him how I was supposed to do it and He simply said, “Do this with Me.” Last Sunday when my left arm wouldn’t cooperate to set Wil’s apartment up, I asked Him how I was supposed to do it, and He simply said “Do what you can.” I put my praise music on, ripped some things open, and bathed my son’s new room in prayer. It’s all I could do but somehow felt so meaningful for the time.  Since Covid, I’ve held onto a devotion I was given. I really thought it as for me to share with my friend. It says that the Lord doesn’t promise you to give you all that you need at one time but just what you need exactly when you need it.  This I know is My devotion. This is all very heavy and I understand that I may feel crushed by the enormity of it all if I was allowed to experience it all at once. I had to get through the surgery first and now tomorrow, I Will be handed a new box.  I am aware of the possibilities. It has torn my heart apart watching Glenn ask the doctor questions, quietly begging to hear the word “benign” but with no reassurance. Oh, I’m not saying that isn’t our prayer or a possibility or that the dr  should offer false hope. I just appreciate honesty and I like dealing with the facts. So...tomorrow we will have facts. Not a plan yet I’m told, but a name. The name is what I’m dealing with.I think about what I’ve called this thing since 8/14/20.  I called it a “spot” on my head to my parents to “break it down into something they could manage- My kids aren’t very happy with me for that one b/c I made it sound like a mole removal-haha! I called it Goliah when I was told the size, it’s been a mass, a tumor, and now it sits in a lab with a well-trained pathologist and name-giver.  I think about how much goes into naming our children, why we choose their names, how their names define them.  It gives them their personality. The name I find out tomorrow may very well dictate the direction of my life and family’s upcoming months. I ask that you help me not dwell on the name or give power to it. Remind me to focus on the POWER of JESUS’ name!!!  Send me scriptures attesting to how powerful HIS name is! Lastly, I ask you to pray for Glenn. He is a natural born leader and is trying his hardest to lead this battle. I understand. He wants to protect me, but He needs some encouragement letting the Lord lead this one instead of him. I love to follow that man, but pray that he can release this duty  over to the One Who has never lost a battle.

Laura Getchell

As I was sitting on my porch this morning enjoying a quiet time with the Lord I glanced over at the two Adirondack chairs in my neighbors yard and was flooded with great memories of conversations with Shane Richardson.  Shane went home to the Lord on April 3rd, 2010.  Rarely a day goes by that I don't have thoughts about my brother in Christ.  I journaled hundreds of pages in the months after Shane's death to help me cope with the emotional loss of losing my best friend to cancer.  Six years later I still mourn the loss of our friendship, but I am thankful for the memories and the words I penned for they help me when the sense of loss begins to overwhelm me.  

Today I decided to read the notes I prepared for Shane's Celebration of Life service.  After reading it over I was convicted to be more intentional with my words and actions.  So in an effort to be more intentional, I thought I would post a copy of the notes.  I hope it sheds light into the impact Shane had on this world, and blesses and motivates you to "Live Like Shane!"
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Shane Richardson Funeral Notes – April 6, 2010

While Shane and DeAnn were discussing Shane’s funeral plans a few weeks ago I stopped by to check in on them.  Shane asked me if I would be willing to speak.  Immediately after saying yes, Shane said, “Now I don’t want you to get up there and draw attention to me.”  I thought, now isn’t that fitting that Shane would say something like that.  Shane was always thinking of the other guy.  Shane understands that this time is tough for all of us.  Especially DeAnn, Jake, Sam, Molly and his Mom, Dad, and DeAnn’s family.  Still as difficult as this is he wants this day to focus on the One from whom Shane gained is strength, Shane’s Savior, Jesus Christ.  

So as I share testimony of Shane’s life with you, it is only because of Shane’s intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that he was loved so much.  Shane’s life pointed people to the cross.  As Shane waited in Redmond Hospital a couple of weeks ago for a procedure we were recounting the length of Shane’s intentional ministry to spread the Good News.  We dated it back to 3 years earlier when Shane had a spiritual encounter with the Living God that changed his life and the lives of many others forever.  We joked about the fact that Jesus and Shane both had 3 year ministries, and that perhaps Shane was the 2nd coming of the Messiah.  And if he was the 2nd coming then on the day he is called home to heaven, maybe all the Christians in the world would go with him.  Well, we now know that he wasn’t the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, but he was as close as anybody that I have ever known.  

Over the course of his life, Shane impacted many people.  He was always a good guy.  I would venture to say that he was so nice and kind that even if he were not a Christian, this room would probably be just as full.  However, there was something different about Shane over the last 3 years of his life that added substance to every relationship he had.  Shane was singularly focused on honoring the Lord with all of his actions.  He encountered Christ in such a radical way 3 years ago that from that point forward no one who came in contact with Shane wondered where he stood.  Shane cared first and foremost about where people were spiritually.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Shane about the impact his trial with cancer was having on so many people.  He made the comment that he wished it didn’t have to be because he had terminal cancer.  You know people so often spiritualize our trials and sometimes it’s just not where you want to go or what you want to hear.  That day Shane didn’t want the spiritual answer that I was giving. But I was one of those typical guys who was missing the clues, and continued to press what I had read in the Bible, and how it related to Shane.  I had read Philippians 2:17 which states “But even if I am poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”  I shared with Shane that this is very similar to what he was going through.  We all know that Shane was an avid evangelist.  Many of us have wondered why the Lord would allow such a warrior to be taken away in his prime.  It just never made sense in our worldly mindset.  However, as I shared this passage with Shane at his bedside I said, “Shane, if we were sitting on my porch right now and you didn’t have cancer and I asked you if you would willingly die or suffer so that someone might know the love of Jesus what would you have said?  He answered, “You’re right, I would choose to suffer or die.”  That epitomizes Shane Richardson.

The sacrificial faith that I was able to witness in the last 3 years has been incredible.  Shane cared so much for those who hurt.  We would often talk about how he wanted to help one person or another, and was trying to figure out how without that person knowing it was him.  We would also talk about real Christian faith.  He desired to see people who claim the name of Christ, live devoted to a sacrificial life in Christ.  He never called people out, rather he chose to show this in his actions towards others, and this served as a vital engine for him to live faithfully according to the Word.  He made it his mission in life to live his life in such a way that other Christians would see how blessed they could be if they sold out to Jesus.  The testimonies people have shared about the impact of Shane’s life on their life has been amazing.  Shane was a rock for so many and also a link to Christ for so many.  It seems as if every person I have talked with about Shane over the past 5 months was in someway drawn closer to Christ because of their relationship with Shane.  

Shane was always so kind.  Last week when I was spending time with Shane, he asked me if I could find the lemon head candy in his room.  I naturally assumed it was because he wanted something to quench his thirst and he was tired of drinking water.  I couldn’t find them right away and he kept encouraging me to look in different places.  When I finally found them he insisted that I have one.  I really don’t like lemon heads, so I declined.  He again insisted that I too have a lemon head.  Well, with my friend laying there so sick, I accepted his offer and placed a sour lemon head in my mouth.  As far as I knew it was over.  When I went back the next day, I noticed a lemon head in a plastic bucket next to the bed.  I made a comment about it and didn’t think about it again.  A couple of days later, DeAnn and I were for some reason discussing the lemon head.  She informed me that the lemon head I was searching for was not because Shane wanted one.  It was because my breath stunk and Shane was too nice to just flat out tell me. 

Shane was introduced to Jesus from infancy.  However, it wasn’t until he was 35 that he made telling and showing others about Jesus Christ his life’s mission.  When I first met Shane 7 years ago, we would often discuss religious issues.  Shane was fairly eclectic in his beliefs.  He wasn’t so convinced of his own faith let alone how to rationalize the falsehoods of other faiths.  We would go round and round about why I was so convinced the Bible was the truth and all other faiths were inconsistent. Little by little he started to see these inconsistencies.  Over the years Shane started to recognize that only the Christian faith had the answers to all of life’s questions.  He became an avid student of the Word.  He became an active servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Shane desired that every follower of Christ would live intentionally to bring Christ everywhere they went.  Shane realized that living for Christ was more important that anything we possess or strive for in this world. 

When he first learned of his cancer two young men pulled up across the street to mow the neighbors’ lawn. Shane got up out of the Adirondack chair in his front yard and began a conversation with the two men.  He simply asked if they knew for sure where they would go if they were to find out that had a terminal disease.  He used his story of cancer to share with them from where he gained his hope.  He also explained the path to eternal life to these two young men.  

Perhaps Shane left his greatest gift to the world during the final 10 minutes of his life.  Since 3:07am on Saturday April 3rd I have had lots of time to process the final minutes of Shane’s life.  The sense of loss is tremendous.  The grief is overwhelming.  I just want my stomach to return to normal.  I guess with time that will come.  What will never leave me is the way Shane departed this life and began his eternal life.

At about 3:00am Shane mumbled some words while pointing to his chest.  DeAnn asked him what he was saying and he repeated.  It sounded like he was saying “read, read.”  I had moved over to stand next to him and asked him again and he said “read, read” again while tapping his chest with his hands.  He had some writing on his t-shirt and I asked him “read your shirt?”  He shook his head no, and I thought for a second and said “the Scriptures? Read the Scriptures?”  He said “yes!”  I grabbed my Bible and DeAnn said, “read John 14.  Shane loves John 14.”  So I began to read John 14 which begins like this, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”  When Shane heard these words his body started moving uncontrollably.  When he heard “I am going there to prepare a place for you” his whole countenance changed.  He smiled and breathed a sigh of excitement as if to say “I see it.”  His breathing rate increased rapidly.  He continued to move all over.  When I finished reading Chapter 14 I went to put my Bible down.  As soon as I stopped reading Shane started to pound his hands on his chest and frantically shouted, “more, more.”  As DeAnn explained it, “it was like he was running to Jesus and the Word was his power.”  When I stopped reading it was as if Shane was saying “no, more Scripture, more Scripture.  If you stop I’ll have to stay.  I need to get to Jesus.”  

I picked my Bible back up and started reading John 1.  Shane continued to move rapidly while I read through John 1.  After finishing John 1 I moved onto John 15.  When I started reading John 15 Shane’s movements decreased and his breathing slowed.  Somewhere in the middle of John 15 DeAnn said, “He’s gone.”  Oh God, he is gone.  Praise Jesus, Shane is with Jesus right now.”  

In His final moments Shane was held by the woman he adored and showered by the Word he loved.  He literally showed us the truth as it is written in Hebrews 4:12, “The word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  I can never pick up the Word of God again without realizing the power it possesses.  Shane didn’t have the physical capability in his body to move in the manner in which he was moving.  The cancer had decimated his physical being.  However, when the Word of God was read it went into his body and physically ushered his soul into heaven.  The very word Shane spent so much time studying and giving away was the last thing he desired.  Shane knew that this was his moment.  He knew he was about to see Jesus.  He went from virtual stillness and silence to an active participant in his arrival in the Kingdom of Heaven. His last breath here on earth and his next breath at the feet of Jesus. In effect he left this world saying “the Word is everything, you must read the Word, you must believe the Word, and you must live the Word.”  If we all do that we will not only honor Shane, but we will most importantly honor Jesus Christ, who Shane loved with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength.