alice.

Some of you know and others are unaware, but a friend of mine, Alice Morse, was killed in a car accident last Thursday night. We celebrated her life and said our final good-byes to her tonight. I've kind of been at a loss for words this week concerning Alice. I just haven't found the right ones to say. We weren't close friends, but we were in close contact for two of the three years I've known her. Alice was a beautiful, beautiful woman. She had the most beautiful smile that just lit up the room. She had this voice that was very gentle and angelic. I remember her singing constantly when she lived across the hall from me. It was mostly this Regina Spector song over and over again. She had just applied at this school in Colorado. As an audition for the school's music program she submitted these three DVDs of her singing. Those DVDs were the special music tonight. I just looked up at the screen and there she was in her favorite black pea-coat singing so beautifully. Every so often she'd look into the camera and flash her huge smile. At the end of the third one, she looked up from the piano and into the camera, smiled then the picture faded. I'll never forget that. That's how I'll always remember Alice.

My heart has been absolutely broken this week thinking about what her mother and her brother and family must be going through. Her mother was the first one I saw walking into the church tonight. She was welcoming and comforting people as they walked in. We were talking about how beautiful Alice was and her mother jokingly complained about how Alice never looked anything like her and we all laughed. Then during the service, Alice's mother got up to speak a little about Alice and I was struck by the similarities in Alice and her mom. They were identical. Maybe not in appearance, but Alice was always the one who put others first. She ignored her own hurt in order to help someone else who was hurting. She was there to encourage others when encouragement was needed. She was so sensitive to the needs of others, rarely thinking of herself. On the way home from the funeral, my friend Aimee and I were talking. Aimee said Alice possessed this quality that was both gentle and powerful. I saw that in her mom tonight. It was such an encouragement to me.

I know if given the opportunity she would not return to this earth. Where she is now is far better than anything we have to offer. Her friend, Erin, said tonight "she was supposed to sleep at my house that night, instead she laid her head at the feet of Jesus." There is so much hope in the knowledge that she is now in the presence of her Savior worshiping at His feet. Oh, I'm envious.

Good-bye, Alice. You'll be greatly missed.