Good-bye, Dear Sheryl
Posted on April 16, 2007
Filed Under Personal |
I didn’t want to open it. As soon as I saw it in my inbox, I got up and walked around saying, “No…please, Lord, no.” I sat back down and stared at it, although it was starting to swim around. I think it was an automatic movement that finally clicked on the email and then I began to read the words…
“It is with great sadness for our human hearts that I tell you that Sheryl DeWitt went home to be with the Lord on Sunday afternoon (April 15).”
I don’t remember anything else, though I am sure I read the rest of it and it is so very hard to type right now. I am interrupted by moments of sobbing and so thankful that my sweet wife is on this trip with me. It helps to hold each other when you weep deeply.
Sheryl was a dear friend whose physical body gave way to a cancer that was so quick in its deathly work. Only a few months ago, she was delighting us all with her ever-present smile and infectious joy…her comforting hugs and words of kindness and encouragement. How is it possible that she is now gone?
Sheryl was one of four classroom professors with me at Focus on the Family’s Institute. Our students loved her fiercely. It was impossible not to love Sheryl. She was as selfless an individual as I have ever met. You just wanted to be around her. Sheryl was a wife, a mother, a teacher, a counselor, a bouquet of yellow daisies, a bubbling brook and a fountain that brought forth an ever-fresh spring of joy to everyone that came in contact with her.
Enoch walked with God, the Scriptures say, and he was not, because God took him. I have always thought that was because God loved being with Enoch so much that one day He just took him home.
I think that is exactly why Jesus came and got Sheryl yesterday.
I don’t blame Him at all.
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17 Responses to “Good-bye, Dear Sheryl”
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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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Thank you for sharing what you did about Sheryl. I had the sweet privilege of being both her student and her friend. Sheryl has left the most beautiful legacy of joy, selflessness and genuine care for others.
I remember so many times when she would just hold my hand and pray with me. Or cry with me. Or laugh with me. Or all of those things simultaneously. Sheryl had the powerful gift of making others feel beautiful and valuable.
This world has truly lost the most precious of diamonds. The most tender of friends. I miss her so much, but I am also overjoyed that she is in the presence of her King.
You are so right… He must have missed her so much that He called her Home.
So appreciate your farewell to Sheryl. She was such a life giver to all. Although we all know she is in a place that is “far better,” we will miss her… often painfully. Thanks for putting into words waht we all feel. Roc
[…] referenced Dr. Del Tackett, president of Focus on the Family Institute, and the words he in his blog post. It is so deeply sad and […]
Dr. Tackett,
Thanks for sharing your heart. I have been struggling with why God would choose to take such a loving and giving person from the earth and I kept thinking of Enoch. Reading your farewell to Sheryl helped my heart. Thanks.
Sharon
I had never really met Sheryl, saw her from a distance once at Cracker Barrel as she spoke with a student from the institute. We were leaving our daughter(Erica) in Colorado for the semester at the institue that would change her life. I know Sheryl through Ericas eyes , and through those eyes Sheryl was all that you have said and more. I sat on the phone and could only listned as Ericas heart broke and I wept with her, as I do now for the loss of one so faithful to Gods call. All I could say to Erica was “do you remember Dr. Takcett saying “TOday we are going to gaze at the face of God? And when you gaze at the face of GOd you will be changed!” Well today Sheryl is gazing at the face of God and she is forever changed….for that we are joyful. For those of us left behind may we leave such a legacy.
We here in California are grieving with you.
My Dearest Sheryl … Though I have already written you on several occasions, let me take this last opportunity to say “Good-bye, sweet sweet friend.” You regaled me with joy and truth and beauty all the days I was at The Institute. You brought the sunlight into darkened places. There was always life and encouragement in your words. You were undeniably my favorite cup with whom to drink my morning coffee. And in the final analysis, you were my closest confidant, with whom I could share my deepest heart. In sum, you were my treasured, precious friend. And I miss you terribly. The smiles. The spine-straightening hugs. The laughter. Even the tears. The priceless conversations as you hunched toward me in rapt attention to my words. I shall see you again soon enough, lady of God’s delights. Til then, Shalom dearest Sheryl. I love you.
Cliff
What a beautiful legacy she has left behind. Thank you for putting it into words.
Thank you, Dr. Tackett, for sharing the Enoch story. I think some of us wish we were in the same position…to be taken home…especially when such a dear friend has recently gone there. Even those of us who didn’t know her as well are grieving the loss of an amazing woman who impacted us despite our negligence to know her better.
I’m caught in a whirlpool of emotions. My heart is broken for Sheryl’s family and friends who have been left behind to wonder why, yet I’m joyful that she is now with Jesus, no longer in pain, but in an eternal place of glory. Sheryl played an instrumental part in bringing my fiancé and I together, and it breaks my heart that we won’t be able to share our joy with her on June 2nd when we are married Sheryl was a blessing to this broken world, and I am grateful for the time she had on this earth and the amazing impact she had on so many.
Sheryl, we’ll miss you.
Dr. Tackett-Thank you for posting this. It’s been an encouragement to me these last few days. If someone had told me this past summer what was to come, I most certainly wouldn’t have believed it. Sheryl was an amazing woman and touched my life deeply. She helped me find a part of my life that I lost a long time ago, and I’m so grateful for that. Know that my prayers will be with you and the other 3 FFI professors as well as the staff, as you try to move the institute forward while traveling the path of healing. Keep clinging tightly onto our Father…
-Caroline (summer ‘06)
Thanks, Del. That was so well said. I felt the same way when I saw the e-mail’s subject line about Sheryl… almost as though if I didn’t open the message, its contents might not be true.
But they were true.
And God is still true.
And even though I didn’t have the opportunity to tell Sheryl goodbye, I’m so thankful that there was nothing unsaid between us… because of the way she loved so freely and received love in return.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sheryl is enjoying a hike with Enoch right now….
Thank you Dr. Tackett for sharing this…for some of us, it is hard to grieve being so far from the grips of the Institute or other alumnus who knew and loved our sweet Sheryl. Gazing upon the face of God and asking those tough questions is the only thing that has gotten me through this week! Thanks for loving your students and dedicating your life to making Truth known. Soli deo Gloria!
Dr. Tackett,
I’m excited to see that you are blogging now. Thank you for your vulnerability & for putting into words what so many of us feel and have not been able to place to words. Your eulogy this afternoon at the memorial service was beautiful as well. Sheryl has certainly left a legacy, and I will do my best to help carry it on. I’m sure the Lord greeted her on Sunday saying “Well done, my good & faithful servant. Welcome Home!” I’m envious of Sheryl right now spending all her time with the Lord in Paradise, & I’m also envious of the Lord spending His days & nights with dear Sheryl.
Forever In His Grip!
I actually just heard about Sheryl’s passing just today. Between getting done with school and moving I haven’t had internet in what seems like forever and when I went to clean out my inbox the first subject reading I read was “Memorial Service for Sheryl Dewitt.” And I sat there, frozen. I was a student of hers, oh, about 3 years ago now? And my life has been forever changed because of the time she took to just talk to me and love on me for the 2 short months I was there. It’s still hard for me to digest. It’s funny, when I was moving I came across my FOTFI box where I had stored papers, pictures, notes. And I came across a paper I wrote for her and the kind remarks and constructive criticism - all for the better. It just…. surreal.
I called Focus On The Family Fri.07-28-2007 to ask for prayer. I also wanted some advice so I asked if Sheryl still worked at Focus. When told that she had died I started crying and was hardly able to speak. I met Sheryl over 20 yrs.ago in Southern California. I went to see her for counsel and ended up being her friend. I started attending her church where her dad was pastor(Dr. Jack Welch). Sheryl,her father and mother(Pat) were the kindest,selfless,generous,wisest people I’d ever met. I’ve never met Dr. Dobson but I would put Sheryl and her parents in the same league. They gave me at my lowest moment in life pure, unconditional love, the love that can only come from a Christ filled life. My carnality grieves at her leaving this earth but my born again spirit rejoices as I know all of heaven does. Good-bye for now Sheryl.
Dear Friends at Focus,
I met Sheryl my junior year of high school, 1980. I was one of few Catholics attending Christian High School in El Cajon CA while she was attending the Christian college which shared the same campus. We quickly became friends. She was witty, which fit her name perfectly. Sheryl was somebody whom I regarded to be a magnet for Jesus’ love; for how she uncompromisingly shared His warmth. She never passed judgement; she gave selflessly. We prayed for each other. Her spontaneous fun spirit made me laugh many times. I never forgot her. When the Lord connected us again via FOF’s phone & letters years later, my wife & I spoke to her & we had a great time remembering, laughing excessively, catching up. I wish we all could’ve gotten together for coffee or dinner. Since then we wondered what became of her. We are so saddened at hearing she is gone. Especially at learning she left a husband & children, parents…
Cancer is horrible. Because of people like Sheryl, we are registered on the bone marrow doner list & donate blood frequently.
Please promise to tell Sheryl’s family that, going back to when we reconnected with Sheryl, we’ve taken on her positive attributes & use them with prayer when we reach out to others. The example Jesus taught lives on through her legacy.
Our Love & Prayers,
Jerry & Jayne Deibert
Del, though this is late in the game, I wanted to thank you for the lovely and heartfelt farewell you wrote to our precious Sheryl DeWitt. I still pray each morning for Sheldon and the family, and hope that you’ll consider doing an update sometime on how they are all getting on. Sheryl was and is extraordinary in every possible way, and I miss her terribly. And all of you, frankly. I know The Institute is undergoing change, and I continue to pray for God’s direction for you all.
With much love and cherished memories,
Cliff Kelly