I have been friends with Julie Sharber for years. I also had the privilege of meeting her dad and hearing stories from his life. He went to heaven on January 1, 2025. Julie sent out a note that celebrated his life. It was such an encouragement to me, so I wanted to share it with you.
“Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.”
Ecclesiastes 7:2
My hope, is that this story will get you thinking about what you want your life to be focused on and what you would love people to say about you when you go to heaven. When you think about a “life well lived” what does that look like for you?
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Julies Thoughts On Her Dad
When we think of New Year’s Day, we typically think of a fresh start, celebrations and new resolutions.
This year, for me, it was the day of endings, the end of a long life. My father died today.
I am writing this from my the airplane. This death was not sudden or unexpected. My father was 97 and had been on hospice care. It is the end of his life here on earth and I will miss him. He had a life well-lived.
My father was such a special man. God really broke the mold on him–
His love and charisma were so evident. He was a high school cheerleader, class of 1943 (he graduated 2 years early). He gave his life to Christ at age 42 at an alter call in the very church his funeral will be held. He was never wealthy yet he never worried about money. He is famous for special quotes:
“I choose to be cheerful”
“I’m allowed to pray about this but I’m not allowed to worry”
“Waste not, want not” was an often-heard saying, after all, he was born 2 years before the Great Depression. He was frugal with himself yet generous towards others. He would never let food (or anything else for that matter) go to waste. He was the only person living in Florida who ever thought air conditioning was slightly optional. He’d tell us to “think cool”…not sure he ever won any of us over to his way of thinking.
I can never remember my father using a cuss word or even complaining. When he got shingles one year, he complained-I knew that must be bad.
He was such a giver!
As his youngest child, I’ve really only known my father as a faithful follower of Christ. Growing up as a child in the 70s, there was a seemingly enormous uptick in hitchhikers along the highways of Florida. I can so easily remember how when he’d see a hitchhiker on the side of the road, he’d start praying and therefore, so would I. He’d ask God if he should pick him up, while I’d be praying (from the backseat) that we would keep going. My prayers were not noble or kind or loving and I don’t recall ever having things go my way. Pretty soon, I’d sense the car slow down and my dad would drive over the bumpy median to turn the car around and go back for the person in need. It never seemed to matter to him if the hitchhiker was dirty or unkempt. It never seemed to matter what we had on our agenda or our schedule. Dad would play his gospel music and start talking to his new passenger about the Lord. We would nearly always stop at a restaurant and he would buy them a meal. At my young age, I failed to realize that my father was living out the story of the Good Samaritan. In the Bible story, there were those who were too busy and important to help and only one man who went out of his way to attend to someone in need. Bill McDurmont lived his entire life to bless others. He was the good Samaritan personified.
Talking about the Lord was his natural as breathing for my father. He truly exuded the love of Jesus.
For the past four years, my dad has lived in an assisted living facility. He looked on it as an assignment from God. He shared his faith with his first friend he met, “the Colonel”, and the man gave his life to Christ then died two weeks later. Dad helped to change that man’s eternal destination.
He wanted to share his love of Jesus with the caregivers, staff and the residents. My sisters would transcribe his stories and he would pass them around. He probably had about 30 different stories, but there was a theme with all of them : Jesus was the hero, Jesus was the miracle worker and Jesus loves us, all of us, no matter what you’ve done or who you are.
I want to encourage you that you too can live a life well-lived. You too can carry the love of Christ wherever you go. (Yes, even into an assisted living facility.) You too can choose to be cheerful. You can choose to give everything to God and reject worry. You can choose to be interruptable for Kingdom of God. My dad knew his purpose was to glorify God and he did it until his final waking hours.I cannot help but think God will greet him with words similar to His words in Matthew 3 to Jesus : “this is my son, in whom I am well pleased”. He’s at home, his heavenly home, at last.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” Proverbs 19:21
I am beyond grateful to the beautiful legacy of this man. I am grateful for a peaceful passing and that he’s in heaven, singing and dancing with the angels and I get to see him again. Peace.
RIP Billie Lehman McDurmont
Aug 31, 1927-January 1, 2025
Peace.
Julie
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