With great sadness I convey the sudden death of my good
friend, Leslie Lipton. Leslie was 59 years old and an avid scuba diver. She had
just completed her first dive as an instructor in West Palm, Florida and was on
her way to the surface. The team saw that at 30 feet all was well. By the time
Leslie reached the surface she had died. The autopsy indicated no obvious
explanation for her death. It is because of Leslie that I am here in East
Africa.
I met Leslie at the University of Phoenix during the
doctoral program residency and we became close friends very quickly. She
welcomed our family in her home in Sacramento making it possible for us to
enjoy places like the Redwood National Forest, Lassen Volcanic Park, and San
Francisco. After Rick died, she was a regularly scheduled weekly source of talk
therapy and lavished Max and I with peaceful stays in her spa-like home once
again. She is the one who encouraged me to start the
My Second Year blog journaling my grief
journey.
As the Lord revealed short term missions as part of that
journey, and I was seeking an international experience, Leslie phoned and
proclaimed, “I’m sponsoring a child in Uganda!” I immediately knew that was the
place I would serve. I traveled across the ocean to meet Olivia, who has now been
under Leslie’s sponsorship for six years and will continue to be sponsored by
Leslie’s generous husband, Mark.
Leslie was abused in her younger years and constantly
struggled to overcome the idea that people could call themselves Christ
followers and still wound her so brutally. And yet, throughout this mission
journey, Leslie has been my constant champion. I’m so thankful for the weekend
we spent together in January when I was home when we easily picked up where we
left off. Please give thanks for Leslie’s precious life and remember with me how
important she was during one of my darkest hours and how instrumental she was in bringing me to Uganda.
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