So this is a bit of an unusual and different blog than I typically write. At World Race Training Camp the guys had set times where everybody from all the squads met and talked about things to help us grow as men. We were discipled by Matt Blair who always carries with him so much wisdom and I have learned so much from listening to him speak. The reason for this is because he speaks from experience and a heart for us, but most importantly he speaks with what he receives from the Spirit. During guy time, Matt told us he wanted us to write out a eulogy of ourselves on what we hope someone would say about us and hope to be true about our lives one day. I really struggled with how to go about writing this and what to say. Although it has taken me forever to write it and send it to Matt, I finally now have put my thoughts together to come up with what I hope to be true about the life I live. I hope you enjoy and learn a little bit more about me!
Dear family and friends,
We are gathered here today to mourn, but also celebrate the life of Zach Trest. Although it is tragic that he died trying to send it, he at least died living his life to the fullest.
For a moment I would like to share with you all what living life to the fullest looked like for Zach. It didn’t mean that he did whatever he pleased whenever he pleased, although at one time he lived by that mentality. He never shied away from sharing his life and the mistakes he made though, because he hoped others would learn from his mistakes and choose to make wiser decisions. He carried his mistakes knowing that they were forever a part of him, but did not define him and preached this to others as well. No matter how bad we think we mess up, Zach knew he had a Heavenly Father in calling him back into His arms. Zach used his mistakes to learn and grow closer to this Father. He knew that he couldn’t be perfect, but he could strive to live in God’s righteousness and allow the Father’s grace to forgive his mistakes.
So living to the fullest for Zach meant waking up to each and every day ready to anticipate what God had in store for him that specific day. During his life He learned more about living this full life. It wasn’t an easy road for him and it took cancelling out a lot of stubbornness. He knew that he wanted to experience more abundant life with God though and be so close to Him that he craved God’s direction in every moment and every step of the way.
Yes he did a lot of crazy things and you could for sure call him an adrenaline junky. He loved to branch out and try something new, even if it meant having to get a little uncomfortable. He lived for new experiences to grow him as a person and have a little something to take with him from each of those experiences. God definitely created him to be passionate about life and creativity. It was so evident in his outlook on life and the charismatic way that he walked it out. Zach found the beauty in all forms of creativity whether it was music, or drawing, or even carpentry. Zach loved to see people’s creative ability and loved to inspire everyone to use their creativity. He firmly believed God created everyone with the ability to create, so he loved to figure out how people could be creative. He desired to see people grow their skills and in their confidence by pointing them back to God and helping them to discover how they could use their God given talents and abilities to bring glory to God.
The Bible shows us how and why to love others and Zach did his best to live this out. He found people and their stories interesting because he knew all to well that even though society wants us to attempt to fit a certain mold and be the same, that God very much made us different. God created us all unique in our own ways for the purposes He has for us and Zach was very passionate about letting people know that. For a period in Zach’s life as well as just about everyone, he tried to conform to the world and tried to fit in, which meant he jeopardized his walk with the Lord. Zach eventually came to the realization that God made us special in our own beautiful ways, so he would often say, “Why try to fit in when God made us to stand out?” This simple yet effective mentality was used in such a peaceful manner by him, that people found security in their identity and who God made them to be. Zach knew God cares about all of His creations, so Zach saw people as something worth investing his time in.
Zach loved people and spending time personally loving them. If this meant making sacrifices for people he would humbly do so. He loved to help others and build them up. Sometimes it just meant sitting and listening to people and other times it meant going out and doing something crazy with them.
Although he enjoyed being open to people and spending his time with them, he also highly valued his alone time. He knew that some of the best times spent with God were when he was alone with no distractions. Zach knew that as important as it was to invest in others, he had to also invest in himself and his own relationship with God. If he wasn’t spending time with God then he knew he wasn’t growing and would be more susceptible to sin. This is why he knew it was extremely important to put God first and build upon that relationship. If his relationship was growing with God, then he knew that the other aspects of his life would fall into place as well.
Zach cherished his family in a manner that expressed his deep love for God and for people. He held true to what scripture had taught him over the years about marriage and a family. He made sure that his wife and kid always felt loved and appreciated. To his wife, he would climb up the highest peak or down lowest valley to get to. He was one hundred percent madly in love with her and thanked God all the time for allowing her to be in his life. To his son he graciously took on the task of raising him to be a man. He raised him with all the care in the world and loved him regardless of the mistakes he made. Zach humbly took on the role of a husband and a father. He boldly stood as their leader but not as their dictator. He made the tough choices when they needed to be made and took on the failures with learning and a still hopeful heart. When his family needed patience he showed patience, when they needed understanding he showed understanding, when they needed reproof he showed reproof, but most of all he always showed them everything out of love.
Zach was a man of courage who was bold in his faith. He was a man with a go get it attitude, so when he wanted to achieve something in life, he worked hard to give the Lord his very best efforts. He worked hard to support his family and give them the best life and the most opportunity he could to lead them in a life with Christ. He set them up to not only success in this life, but to succeed in developing and growing a relationship with God. He knew that this life only mattered if they were secure in their life as God’s children, so that was always his number one priority. Zach made it clear to his family that they were loved and adored not only by him, but by God as well. He never hesitated to share with them how God was working in his life and the things he was learning, even if it meant having to get super vulnerable. Zach wanted to make sure they understood how deeply God craves a relationship with everyone. He wanted to see his family be as influential in bringing Kingdom through listening to the Holy Spirit as much as his efforts of obedience were and they are.
These are just a few ways that the love of Jesus Christ were evident in Zach Trest. He wasn’t perfect as none of us are, but he live to serve a God he knew and loved. So this is why I say even though we mourn, we also rejoice for Zach knew where his eternal destiny would be. We celebrate the life he had here with us and the impact he made on each of our lives, but we pray and hope that each one hear will one day see him again when we finally go home to be with our Heavenly Father. So with this we say a bittersweet goodbye to a man of honor, a man of inspiration, a man of love, and most of all a man of God. Thank you.
R.I.P. – Zach Trest
