As I glanced around the room, I had honestly debated on tidying up a bit. The entire main level of my house was in disarray from the previous day’s activities. Pondering this, and not for very long, I considered that leaving the remnants of yesterday, that were currently strewn all over the floor, certainly wouldn’t be a crime. It was December 26^th after all, and I had a good inkling that my house wasn’t the only one that looked as if it had been ransacked by thieves in search of all the world’s lost treasures hidden somewhere between the living and dining rooms. 

With this in mind, and while my husband and son were preoccupied, I cleared a path to the computer and sat down to finish up a task I’d started well over a week ago. It was then, shortly before 2 pm, that my phone went off with a recognizable alarm: an alert text from one of the local news stations. While busily typing away on the keyboard, I glimpsed down at my phone’s screen and amid a paragraph of text, “Ryan Otis Chambers, 24” illuminated and was the first thing I could decipher. I quickly clicked on the text.  

I must have gasped, or screamed, or something because my alarmed husband rushed over from the kitchen. 

There had been an accident.

Ryan Chambers, a young man we had watched grow up in our church, who had shared youth meetings with our children, had been involved in a fatal car accident. I collapsed in sobs as my thoughts rushed to our dear friends, his parents, his sweet sister, his beautiful young fiancée. 

Ryan was raised in church. He learned of Jesus at an early age and was taught the Biblical Scriptures as he participated in both children’s and youth ministries.  Both parents heavily invested into his spiritual life, even packing up he and his younger sister and traveling to serve in Mexico on a mission’s trip together as a family. 

As Ryan grew up, he developed a passion for people, and a desire to share the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Through the years, this very desire carried him throughout the world to places such as Guatemala, Africa, Japan, and Spain, where he was granted unique opportunities to share The Gospel with others.

Ryan, a fun spirited and vivacious young man that had the most euphoric laugh, owned an energetic and positive personality that became contagious within minutes of just being around him. He quickly earned the respect of both his peers and adults alike.

 As real and inevitable as we all know death is, when it involves one of our own, we are stunned, still. The shock of his passing jarred both our community and our church, but as I watched the volumes of individuals that knew him step up with overwhelming outpourings of love and support to his family and friends, it was clear that Ryan’s genuineness for those he had been entrusted with didn’t go unnoticed.

On that Sunday afternoon, as I stood outside in the quiet line of people that slowly merged with solitary steps into the building that would soon commence the service, the only audible voice was that of the guest registry greeter’s who stood ahead at the doorway’s entrance.

 She kindly asked each person if they had picked up a memorial pamphlet the night before at the visitation, and if not, were welcomed to do so. A polite way, I assumed, of attempting to ensure that the pamphlets would go as far as possible to the endless number of guests that continued to arrive.

As the line slowly came to another stop, the greeter began to talk to the lady who was by herself in front of me. She spoke of the previous evening’s visitation and how it had been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, the funeral home had ever seen. I recalled the previous night and how I had wondered if the allotted visitation hours would accommodate all that had shown up. 

The greeter then repeated her previous dialogue about the memorial pamphlets, the lady graciously taking one from her. She then explained that she had not been to the visitation the evening prior, and in fact, she didn’t even know Ryan. 

She told of how she had come up on the accident after it had happened, and how Ryan and his family had remained on her mind ever since. 

She went on to say that she wasn’t quite sure why she had come, she just felt as if she needed to be there. 

Tears swelled in my eyes.

Waiting for the service to begin, I thought of our church’s Japan trip a few years prior, in which Ryan and I had both attended. It was on this trip that I had the opportunity to really get to know him as a young adult. I witnessed first-hand how he had since grown into a Godly young man and had developed a genuine passion for people. I watched as his fun-loving spirit interacted with the newly introduced Japanese students and how he quickly bonded with them, finding common ground despite the cultural differences.

Listening to those who spoke at his service, I learned other aspects of Ryan’s life that I didn’t know. He served in numerous ways in the community, never publicizing his regular efforts to help those in need.  

Just days before the accident, Ryan had celebrated his 24^thbirthday and in lieu of gifts, he had set up an online fundraiser for UNICEF USA, an organization that supports UNICEF’s (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) work in more than 190 countries and territories to help children by providing healthcare and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. His requested birthday goal of $1,000 ended up soaring to more than four times that amount. 

Ryan’s service went on to describe a young man that was selfless and that truly exemplified the heart of Jesus in his everyday actions.

One of his peers recently described Ryan as, “A guy that loved to always have fun, but never faltering on his beliefs, and always, always, using each and every moment as an opportunity for ministry.” 

December 26^thserved as a reminder to me that everything on this earth is temporary and that the importance of how we choose to use the few earthly hours that we’ve been given can make a dramatic difference in the lives of others and their eternity.  

Ryan never focused on his own accomplishments with earthly recognitions, but instead focused on eternal goals. He invested into the lives of people with a genuine concern.

In the service, Ryan’s competitiveness in sports was mentioned with smiles and laughter. In a way, I view competitiveness as an attribute of striving to be the best you can be; to give your absolute top performance at any task brought before you. Ryan Chambers did just that with his assignment of life here on earth.

At age 24, Ryan Chambers knew what was important in life. He “got it.” 

  My thoughts drifted back to the lady in line that felt compelled to attend the service that day. I smiled as I thought of the testimony she had just heard about a Godly young man that she had never met but, through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, could one day be introduced to.

So Ryan Chambers, today, I accept your challenge! To live life the best I know how and to attempt to use each and every opportunity I’ve been given to show others the heart of Jesus.

Until, we met again.

“His Master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’

Matthew 25:23