STORIES

Families Can Be Together Forever

Have you ever wondered if you’ll be with your family after you die? I had an experience I’d like to share that became the inspiration for this painting.

While I was attending college, my dad received a phone call from his former college roommate, who had tragically lost his son unexpectedly. Heartbroken for his friend, my dad decided to attend the funeral and invited me to go with him.

Oddly enough, the day of the funeral was bright and sunny. We walked into the chapel where the services were being held and sat on the right side of the room near the exit door. The man who had died was relatively young and had left behind a wife and young children. You could tell they were a close family.

It was a beautiful service, but it was the very end that caught my attention in a way I will never forget. A small group of family members was called forward to pick up the casket and carry it out of the chapel. The doors were opened, and as the casket was carried out, the wife followed closely behind her husband’s casket, accompanied by her young children, who were tightly holding onto each other.

As she approached the exit directly in front of us, it was as if the sunlight coming through the door and the feeling of love inside the room intensified. The light cast a brilliant glow on her and her children, culminating in an image that seemed to stand still for a few seconds—until the light reached its peak, and then they were gone, disappearing from my view on the other side of the doorway.

As I stood there with tears in my eyes, I realized I had just been given a gift—an image I felt compelled to paint. The impression didn’t just come in that moment; it returned to my heart very strongly at least six or seven times within the hour that followed. Even though I had developed very little artistic skill at the time, I began working on it. After months of full-time effort, this is the painting I created.

I hope it blesses you as much as the experience blessed me. God bless.

COME UNTO ME