Leo

As I was writing the last post, I received news that an old friend of mine, Leo, passed away yesterday. Leo leaves behind his wife Ileana (another old friend) and their little girl.

I met Leo when he and Ileana were dating. I was asked to teach a Bible class for a small spiritual retreat at a church, and Leo came to that class. I remember teaching about our sinful nature, and how God's grace covers ALL of our iniquities. I talked about God's awesome love for us. I remember Leo was impacted, and I remember being impacted and humbled that God had spoken to him in such a powerful way. Leo was crying, and yeah, that made me bust out in tears later on, too.

That was my only "spiritual" contact with Leo. After that it was mostly his' and goodbyes'. He and Ileana got married, had a beautiful little girl. We didn't see them much in the interim, except for the occassional wedding and funeral.

But Leo made an impact on my life. When you see the gospel shake someone to the core like that, you can't help but be impacted by it. You never forget it. There is something about brokenness that makes you shudder. There is something about recognizing our smallness before a mighty, infinite God that shatters every paradigm.

You can't forget that stuff, and I won't forget Leo.