Gone Ahead
Transcripts are AI-generated and may not be 100% accurate.
Chloe and Mary Grace: As our winter days dim and cave into the demands of darkness, God of the Spark, set fire in the coldest parts of our hearts. When hope hangs low and our days feel long, God of the Second Wind, breathe life into our bodies of dust and dreams. We light a candle tonight for hope, as we hand our hearts to the only One who knows how to hold them. God of all hope, shine your light on our lowly places where in the dark of our depths, the Spark may set a fire that warms a world in winter. Together we say:
All: We light this candle for hope. May it light the way.
Debbie: Well, welcome to the table everyone. My name is Debbie Manning. I'm one of the pastors here at The Table. We're so glad you're with us tonight. Um, got a couple of announcements. Um, first and foremost about the last month, you guys have heard us talk about money a bit 'cause it's year end giving. And so one of the things that we wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of is that, um, we are so grateful for everybody's generosity. That what we do here at the table, what we're about, who we serve, it matters. And as we grow our children's and youth program, as we continue to step out into the community to hopefully be good news to partner up, um, we need your continued support.
So there's a few ways you guys can do that. Year-end giving our great, so if you, um, have some extra money hanging around and you'd like to donate to the table, we would take that. We take it, um, you can go online, um, you can talk to Mark Harmon, our treasurer and talk about stocks.
Um, and then the other thing you can do is if you're already a monthly giver and you feel like you got just a little bit more you can stretch, we would welcome, um, an increase in giving. So we are again, just so grateful because this community matters and I, I think, um, this idea of practicing the ways of Jesus to create space for all to be loved and all to belong, that it matters. So thank you. Thank you for that.
Last announcement is that we are gonna have a community meal next, um, Sunday night. And so yes, woo! So please sign up right after service. We'll hang out out here. We'll share some food and conversation and it's always been so much fun. So we'd love it if you could sign up for that. You can also go online to sign up as well. So thank you for that.
It's been a hard week and a heavy week. And I'll warn you on the front end, there might be some tears for sure on your part, part, maybe on Matt and my part. But, uh, we are starting our advent series and it's called Watch for the Light. It's fitting that we're talking about Lynn Giovannelli tonight because friends, we've seen the light. What a gift when we've been able to see God's light in other people. And Lynn Giovannelli, a light shone strongly and beautifully through her this past Tuesday morning, Lynn passed away, stepped into her heavenly home and she did it peacefully. Lynn has been surrounded by family and friends and people who love her all along the way on this journey.
And I can tell you firsthand that, um, in a very strange way, we've all been the beneficiary because over and over again, Lynn's honesty and grace and joy and hope has just been this amazing gift to every single one of us. Lynn's Light has shown throughout this journey, it'll continue to shine through every single one of us. 'cause we've all been impacted in such a huge way.
One of the last things I told Lynn was that, you know, we've been friends, but then I really became her pastor during this journey. But as time went on, she was my friend first. And in many ways she became my pastor because I was able to experience God in a way that I had never experienced God through her and the way she loved people and the way she loved life and the way she lived life.
But the other way that we've been able to witness the light has been through her family a few months ago, I, um, and it, I shouldn't have, but I did. I said, Gino, should you maybe get a little more help at night? And he looked at me and said, this is the one thing that we, the boys and I can do for Lynn. And we're gonna do it. We are gonna do it. And guess what, you guys, you did it. You did it. And you did it because you loved your mom that much. You did it with the help of God and the help of so many of their people here tonight that just have done everything from caring for Lynn and bringing meals and praying and notes and pictures. And you have been surrounded by a community of people who have been a light in what's been a horrible, hard three year, three plus year journey.
So tonight we couldn't, Matt and I were saying we couldn't not have this night be about Lynn. It just wouldn't be right. Everything else would feel false if we weren't here to celebrate a life of someone who impacted this community in such a huge way. We had a Women at the Table, um, meeting that happened to be the day after Lynn died. Every women at the table gathering since Covid has been at Lynn Jo's house because she always wanted to be a part of everything. Um, she had decided end of summer, that maybe September would be her last time. And as we're gathered around, and I'm thanking Lynn for hosting women at the table, all these, um, couple of years, but that this would probably be her last one that 'cause Lynn had indicated it would be. And as I'm talking, she pipes up and goes, “Well let, let's hold that loosely.” Um, 'cause Lynn never wanted to miss out on anything.
But as it would be, Lynn passed away on Tuesday and we were having a women at the table on Wednesday and we gathered together some 30 plus women, all generations. And we shared stories about how Lynn, how God threw Lynn, how Lynn had impacted so many of us. And it was a beautiful gift. 'cause it was a night of tears, laughter, and everything in between. But I thought a lot about this. Um, I was telling my husband, who cares what I have to say? I think what's far more important is what Lynn had to say. And so I wanted to share this clip with you. Um, here's our Lynnie.
Lynn [on video from 2020, play from 24:24]: Does look like provision for me to be sitting here, um, with Gino facing death in the face. Um, but not being afraid because I know that he's trustworthy. Um, it, it's, it's just pretty astounding, really. And one of the things that happened as I was going through a bunch of tests, getting ready for this diagnosis, I heard, um, the song “Keep Me in the Moment” and I had to pull over because that song, it was the first time I had heard it. And it shook me because I realized that's what I want. I want to be in this moment. I want to be kept in this moment. The preciousness of this moment right here is all any of us are promised.
And I know that and you know that, but gosh, to really know it, um, everything else kind of blurs. And you're just able to be with the person you're with in the conversation you're with, um, appreciating this day, this temperature, even this pandemic like as, as terrible as things might look, this diagnosis, there's still beauty in this moment.
And that kind of rocks my socks off to think how is that possible? And at the same time, um, There's this presence, um, that makes it holy. Like, because we realize we're not alone in it. Um, Because what is offered to us in mercies that show up in people and in circumstances and in unexpected, um, humor and even in hardship, there's a holiness in that, that the, as I look at the old me as I might call it, there was this, I was too busy. I was, I was so busy, I was missing things left and right 'cause I was looking at what was next instead of what is now.
And I remind myself at, at this particular season to just be here now. Like if I feel my mind getting busy or if I'm trying, you know, if I find myself looking ahead, I just breathe in this moment and, and what, What I'm experiencing is such beauty. And I feel like everything is technicolor because I'm in this moment. So I'm not worried about what was yesterday or what's future.
Um, you are able to see and experience with all five senses what's available to us now. And even I, I think there's something about having a terminal diagnosis that, um, invites almost your foot already being in this spiritual realm that allows for even more, um, I don't know, just more mercy. More, more. You notice everything. And I am finding myself in conversations where I will say to a friend or a family member, like, did you see that? Did you, did you hear that? Like it's, it's almost like it's um, louder and brighter and more beautiful because it's, it's right now it does look like provision.
Debbie: Lynn's legacy is the life that she lived because she lived fully. She loved life. She loved others, she loved God and it, it was her faith. We talked about that a lot. It was her faith that carried her through. And she would say that every day I find joy, even toward the end of her life, which was hard. But she found joy. And I will tell you that she made me a better person. She made me a better path. And I'm guessing that many of you feel that same way.
I just want to say to Gino and Marco, Stefano to Luca, who's not here, but to Fran and Ken and Suzanne who are here, Lynn's parents and her sister, we're with you. We are so heartbroken right alongside of you. And we will carry on Lynn's legacy. So what that, let me pray.
Holy and gracious God, we gather together and um, like only Lynn would have us do the both end of life. We hold both just heartbreak and steep sadness and grief. But we also hold it with relief that Lynn's no more suffer. That's not suffering anymore. With hope. With joy knowing that death does not have the last word. God, we are so grateful for the witness of your love and your presence throughout Lynn's entire life. Seen much more boldly in these last three or four years. Lynn will live on God. She will live on in big ways because she lived a big life. And we will all make sure that we tell the stories and that we remember. And we're always grateful that we've had Lynn in our life. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Kids, you are dismissed.
Matt: Hey, thank you Debbie. Kiddos, we love y'all. You know where you're going. Third to fifth out the back. Pre-K out this way. Hey, good evening everybody. My name is Matt Moberg. I'm one of the leaders here alongside Debbie. Uh, this is a sacred space tonight. So much so that I told my wife 34 seconds ago that I don't know how we should really start tonight. Like in this space especially. So I ask for your grace as we try to proceed in this moment.
It's our first night of advent in this series that we are calling Watch for the Light. And I think because of conversations I've had with Lynn in the past, I'm gonna say the same thing that I say every time we ever enter into like this sermonic space, if you didn't know Lynn, you don't care about hope, whatever. Walk out with this, at least who you are is more important than what you do. Even if what you do gets more attention than who you are, who you are is the essence.
Lynn was consistently living her life as an echo of that reality. She was consistently living as a reminder to each and every one of us who are lucky enough to share space with her. That that your story as an individual and our story as a collective, it does indeed matter. That's more important than anything that we tend to get attention for. That is where the cream meets the crop. Is that a proper saying or that is go with the spirit in that one? No, you just went with the spirit. Okay, ask where the cream meets the crop. No, that is where the cream meets the crop, Debbie.
I had a moment, uh, last month where um, I was invited to speak at this seminary with a group of guys and gals who were fixing to become pastors. Uh, no, let me clarify. I was on a panel, I wasn't invited to speak. They're like, we ought to bring somebody who's not really the Bethel type to bring in here. So we have a full spectrum of people here. And so I was in there and at 1.1 of the people in the third row, he, he said, when we opened it up to to Q and A, he goes, “What's your biggest regret so far in vocational ministry?”
And um, you know, I've had that question posed my way before and in the past I've talked about how I wish I would've been more bolder about inclusivity. In moments where I chose palatability instead of operating out my own convictions. Uh, there are spaces where I wish that we as a community would've moved into, but instead of we tempered that enthusiasm again for the sake of palatability.
For whatever reason in this context, when that question was posed my way, my mind went back to 2015. One of my good friend's dad's Flip Saunders passed away from Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was a month long battle—it wasn't as long as Lynnie's—painful, all the same. Daily I was on the phone with Ryan and we were talking and we were meeting with in the hospital room laying hands on Flip, um, trying to tend to that space as graciously and tenderly as we possibly could.
Ultimately Flip did die. Months after the diagnosis he was gone and there's a big funeral filled with lots of kinds of people. 'cause he was a Timberwolves head coach. And so it wasn't the most intimate of affairs. And so after the fact, the family invited me to go to his grave and just have family time.
Matt, what's your biggest regret so far in vocational ministry? Well, this is the moment that came to mind because we gathered around Flip's grave and Mama Saunders asked me, she goes, “Will you, will you say a couple words?” And I did. I called Ryan today, by the way, Flip’s son. And I kind of said like, man, I've never apologized for this, but I'm remembering it so palpably today. As I think about letting in these moments, and I'm gonna share with you what happened, which I just shared with my wife for the first time the other day.
Mama Saunders asked me, will you share a few words? And I did. I said, you know, your dad being in the throes of it with Ryan, hearing the heart of Flip, he loves you all so much. Had all kinds of accolades and accomplishments to his name. Everybody knew who he was, did all kinds of things, but you were the cream. The cream to his crop. Cream of the crop. Cream of the crop. Excuse me, sorry. You were the best part about being Flip Saunders for Flip Saunderss. He, he loved you and I meant that. And then I was done. And there's a moment of silence afterwards. Then Mama Saunders got up and Ryan was trying to like wrap and go like, alright, this was good. It was good for us to be together.
And Mama Saunders got up and she said, you know, dad did love y'all. He certainly loved me and Daddy is gone, but he is only gone ahead. It's not the essence of dad is not just that he loved you right here there's a deeper truth, a deeper hope that we cling to as Christian people. Mama Saunders, she ended up reading from First Thessalonians 4 in that moment. let me read it to you right now:
It says this, when we're St. Paul is writing to the people and he says, listen, we don't want you to be ignorant. We don't want you to be uninformed. Paul is cracking open the secret of the universe right here. When you show up at a funeral, you don't do so like everybody yells. 'cause I'm letting you in on the truth of all truths. We do not want you to be on the form brothers and sisters about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do, who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Even so through Jesus, God will bring him, God will bring him those who have fallen asleep.”
Dad is indeed gone right now, but dad has gone ahead. I've thought about that a lot this week. Ever since we heard Lynnie leave, we expected that moment, Gino, we knew that moment was coming. It was just a matter of time, but gone is gone. It's different when the reality actually comes into play. Hits me differently when I think she's not just gone but actually gone ahead.
I thought about it again on Friday morning when I got my kids all dolled up and we went to, uh, the Catholic mass funeral for Lauren's grandma Nancy Trettel, this amazing woman who lived a beautiful life, had five kids, six kids, excuse me, and took in foster kids along the way. The priest at one point when he was speaking about Nancy's life, he mentioned this fact that she's not gone, she's just gone ahead.
And he said, you know, Nancy's sixth child, Ann-Marie, she died the first day when she was born. And the priest painted this picture said like, can you imagine how excited that girl was to meet her mom on the other side? Can you imagine how excited Nancy's husband Lauren's grandpa Otto was to see his wife on the other side?
Question asked me by that seminary fellas and gals, in that moment, what do you regret? The regret the most I think part of it had been in reaction to so many Christians prior to me who had told me that heaven life after this life, this promise of life after this life as like this weaponized threatening thing you get in line or you won't get in on that. That I had spent so much energy trying to show how Christ of the abundant life is here and now. And the Apostle Paul echoes that thought as well. It's accessible in the here and now. It's right now, but it's also there. It it is also now, but it's also there. It's here now, but it's also there. In these moments that we thought about this past week. And I read that text from Paul. It's also there.
Debbie: Well, so Matt and I have talked a lot since Lynn died about this because I think, you know, we err on being as transparent as possible, but sometimes we were saying that maybe we haven't talked enough about there and this community that we often talk about the kingdom here, we don't talk a lot about there. And a piece of that is because I think none of us know exactly what that looks like, what that is. But if we've been in life experiences with those that have passed from earth to heaven, there's a deep sense that there is something beyond death.
Friends, there's been a lot of us that have been in, in these situations. And the beautiful thing about Lynn, the the reason she lived so fully is that she carried the both and she lived it here every moment. What she said is true. She lived in the moment. She saw everybody, but she also understood the, there she trusted fully that this was not the end. That death did not have the final word. She knew that deep down in her soul. She didn't know either exactly what that was gonna like. It didn't mean that she didn't have fear.
She talked a lot, Patty, you know this too. Patty Beadle was this other minister in her life who was with her along this journey that she was honest. It was the beauty about Lynn. She named it, she named the fear. She didn't want to leave, she didn't want to leave her family, but she was never afraid of where she was going. She had deep peace, comfort, and hope in knowing where she was going.
You know, we've, we've talked a bit about, and and for those who don't know, it's important that the story of our community, about five years ago, we had someone very similarly, very similar in age when he passed away, similar in the sense we talked about this right before the service. What was it about those two? Why did those two people, Chris Nielsen and Lynn Giovannelli, why did they die? They were extraordinary people and we're not, I just said to Lynn's parents when they walked in, it's, we're not just saying this because Lynn passed pre ALS just extraordinary, extraordinary people that impacted so many lives. What was it about those two and beyond that every single person has said when you were with were with Chris, when you were with Lynn, they saw you. You felt known and seen and loved, but they both were closer to the divine Yeah. They lived a life closer to the divine with a hope in something bigger than this.
I can't tell you how many conversations I had with Lynn and I would say I just know in my heart of hearts that there's something so much bigger than all this Lynn. And she'd point to her little plaque behind her that said just that. But there's something bigger. There's something beautiful.
Matt: But how does it land for the, uh, that's my question I think I walked away with even just when I was ruminating on this today, when we talk about, um, you know, like, uh, let's go with Lauren's grandma. Lauren's grandma getting to meet her daughter for the very first time on the other side and Grandpa Otto getting to play cards with Lynnie on the other side, whatever. How does it land? Like how do you feel that in your body? Because I'll be honest with you, cards on the table for me it hits in 10,000 different ways. There's part of me that's calloused and cringes a little bit like, it feels like it's straight from Narnia and um, like back it up with something.
There's the other part of me though that does feel like I have a winter within me that I was not aware that suddenly somehow got warmed. Like I heard a song for the first time and I don't want it to stop playing. How do you hold this hope that is pulsating throughout the gospels, throughout the New Testament epistles? How do you hold it?
Option A would be cynicism and go like, well that's, I tried, I hoped I wanted, I went after it fell flat. No thank you. Won't do that again. Other option is Openhandedness. I told Debbie, understand this right now. You want to talk about openhandedness? let me just give you an example right here. I called Deb, I told Debbie at 4:32, today we have a 5:00 PM service. I said, can you just grab a stool and sit with me because it feels gross to give a three point sermon on how to talk about hope in the midst of despair. No interest in that, hard pass.
But I also don't know what else to say in this space. And so I just wanted to like hold that thing where it's like we read our story, we step inside of our tradition with all of our despair, ache and pain. It is what it is, but it's not what it seems. It's very hard. It's ugly, it's cold. There are sharp angles on all kinds of tables that we run into all the time. And not just talking about Lynnie, we're talking about all of life.
When we say that personal life marriages that started out in dreams that ended in divorce. And I read this note today that said we had 50,000 deaths by suicide in 2022. 40,000 of them were by men. Life is not all good. It's not all up and to the right. There is pain that is palpable and accessible to each and every one of us. It is what it is, but it's not what it seems. There's a facing of the facts. We're not, we're not putting lipstick on a pig. It's hard. It sucks. It's the worst. It's, I hate it, but it isn't it, it's not the fullest story that we have to tell.
I think this is why when you read the gospel or the letter to the Hebrews, the, he says that like if anything, the the death burial and resurrection of Christ, if there's anything good that it has to offer up, it is this, it ought to liberate you, deliver you from the free, uh, from being enslaved by the fear of death. If you ask any sociologist today, what is the thing that like is behind all of our things, what is the thing that makes us act all kinds of stupid ways? Ultimately it is a fear of death. It's a fear of our own finality, our own finitude.
But if you know that, like it is what it is, but it's not what it seems. It sucks today, but it probably won't tomorrow. If you trust that this dream that we we hope to be true is actually indeed true. You don't walk around the world on your tiptoes anymore. You all of a sudden expose scarcity is a silly thing. And like you are liberated from the fear of death because you know, death does not have the final say in your life. You are gone. But we would say they've just gone on ahead.
Debbie: And I think when you, oh, when you Think
Matt: first time speaking in front of people, give her Time.
Debbie: Thank you. Well, it was kind of a last minute thing. What can I say? Um, I think about Lynn though when we're talking about this and I think one of the things after she died on Tuesday I think we talked about is she's free She's free. And I think actually though Lynn lived that throughout that disease liberated and free because never part of her living was the fear of dying. Because she did believe, she did trust that she will be moving going on. And I'll share, I don't know if Kathy Nielsen's in the house and I didn't ask her this, but Kath, I’ll, what is that Julie, you always say? Ask for forgiveness not permission?
Matt: Yeah. That's not like a motto to live life, Julie.
Debbie: But Um, thanks Julie though.
Matt: We'll take it for now.
Debbie: But you've lived a good life doing this, um, doing. Tami, you too, you're right there with her. Yeah. Um, you guys have taught me a lot over the last few years. Um, but Kath, where was I going with this? Kathy Nielsen,, um, and Lynnie Kathy was married to Chris who died five years ago and a tragic accident. But Kathy Nielsen had, um, been to see Lynn, what, 10 days, two weeks before she died. And they were talking about Chris, I think they were snuggled up together talking about Chris. And Lynn was sharing that. She talks to Chris and she had told me the day before, I know he, he's gonna be waiting for me. I know Chris Nielsen will be waiting for me.
And then she went on to say, as Lynn would, 'cause she always includes and thinks of everyone. And I think your sister's gonna be right there too, greeting me when I come in. So Kathy had shared with Lynn that night a story that some of us know the day after Chris died, he died in a bike accident. And the next day it was very sudden, he was 52 years old. She was outside sitting out by the river and she was praying, show me a sign, show me a sign, Chris, please. And a bald eagle flew by and landed on a tree next to her.
And so for her, that had always been a sign that there is something beyond this. That there's something more than this. And she shared that that night with Lynn a couple weeks ago. And so Lynnie died on Tuesday.
On Wednesday I was walking around the lake and I was doing what healthy people do. Listen, listening to the soundtrack of music that Lynn and I had put together and weeping as I walked around the, the lake just thinking about us listening to all this beautiful music together. And Kathy Nielsen calls me and she tells me that she had just been walking around Lake Nokomis listening to a song that Lynn loved. And she was weeping and she kept praying, show me a sign. 'cause she had asked Lynn, I hope you'll give me a sign, Lynn. And she's walking around the lake looking for a bald eagle, looking for a bald eagle. No bald eagles. She makes it all the way around the lake. And she sits on a bench and she says, God, where are you?
Matt: That's not what She said.
Debbie: Well, she, well she used an F word that Lynn would've loved. Yeah, don't Recording. Lynn would've Loved it. She used an F word, where are you? And she sat there and all of a sudden a bald eagle landed on the branch next to her. I might add, she sent me the video, so I have the proof. And she sat there and she started filming this eagle. And all of a sudden the bald eagle started to chatter and a second bald eagle landed on the branch right next to the other one. And they started chatting chattering to each other. Now to your earlier point, you could be cynical for sure and go, oh yeah,
Matt: That's my bent that I feel within me.
Debbie: Like it is kind of like, and My bent is like, oh my gosh, is our God amazing? Like how crazy is that? And this stuff happens. That's why we're partners because you need me. But there you guys, that is beautiful. What's next? I’m sure is beautiful. I don't know what it looks like, but I am sure that it is being in the most loving space, being whole, being free. And I do trust that. And I know that Lynn knew that. Amen. She knew it.
Matt: I, I think that this is like a, let's wrap it up soon, but I think this is not, I want you to know, like if you're a part of the table community, we're not No, no thank you on like here's the theme for the week. Like we're gonna be connected to y'all. We're gonna talk about the things that are happening within us all the time no matter what. Even if it's weird and we talk about bald eagles and things like that sort. But what I think is great about that story right there is it does leave you with that choice to respond going like, how do you see the world? You know, do, do you have that openness?
Like advent the root word is you sent this to me today, adventure, this openness, this idea that I'm gonna take on something that I did not take on prior to Mm-Hmm. And I think it re asks all of us as we enter into the month of December, like what is possible for us? We have all kinds of certainties, all kinds of ideas of how the world is run, what is true, what is false, what is right, what is wrong, how the world operates and how the world doesn't operate.
But I will tell you that at my elderly age of 38 years old, I know less than I did prior to matter of fact, dad, I brought you up today because we had a don't do that face. Bear with me. I told Lauren today, I said like it is that posture that my dad has after having one of our sons come out—not our, his sons, my brother, to clarify—all kinds of previous truths, upended new kinds of questions. Asked my dad said to me at one point, he said, I know less today than I did before. And I'm okay with that. It feels good. It feels like this is what the consistency and congruency with the ways of love ought to look like.
We're in December right now, we're in pain, but we're still hopeful. We're still having that humble posture to say like we don't know the end of all things. Every question still has different kinds of answers, but we trust that the best dreams that we dream, they actually are true. And that's good enough for me.
Debbie: I just, as you were talking, I was thinking about this being advent and that whole idea of waiting and expectation and preparing and, and we're preparing right For Emmanuel God with us. And that's a Lynn Giovannelli thing. God with us and anyone who was with us here on January 1st, 2023, she first of all packed the house preached like no one's ever preached,
Matt: Which is all that mattered to you by the way. She is like, are we gonna make it as an organization?
Debbie (sarcastic): Numbers, numbers, That's numbers, numbers, numbers. Yeah. We're big on numbers. Um, But what a witness, what a witness. You want to transition this moment, your witness part to the I'm I'll get outta the way. Let me Witness to God with us. That's the hope. Friends God with us now, God with us beyond, that's a beautiful story that we get to share and I'm grateful for that.
Um, yeah, I'm gonna pray. And then Maggie, can you come up for words? And thank you for sitting in this with us because quite honestly this has been heavy and hard for us because we loved Lynn so much and I don't think Matt and I, our team, I don't think we knew how to do it. So just so you know, we tried to speak from the heart tonight and honor Lynn and uh, I'm gonna pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you that we have this space that we can gather tonight. And as hard as it to say as it is to say the word, remember, thank you. We can, that we can gather and remember Lynn God, we trust that she will continue on, that her light will continue to shine, that we are all changed because of line and that our lives will look different as well going forward. God, we pray for her family as they navigate what's next, what their new norm looks like. But we've seen the way that Lynn has made sure that they're all deeply connected and we trust that as she lives on in them, they will carry on her legacy. We thank you for who you are and how you love us, and the promise of an eternal life with you. And we're gonna hang tight to that promise and we pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen.