Honor given "in due time."

Yesterday we went to a gate dedication ceremony at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They closed down the stretch of road where my little brother Noah was struck and killed while biking to work and made it a private road for the base with bike lanes. The gate to enter this portion of the base has been dedicated to him as a memorial: The A1C Noah D. Muonio Gate. At the ceremony, an installation entry controller stood up and gave his shift report, the one he and all of his colleagues who will stand guard at this gate from now on will say with each change of shift.
The report began with these words:

“This is the Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate. It is named after Airman First Class Muonio, a native of Saint Francis, Minnesota, who proudly served at Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a NASIC Remote Sensing Analyst. On the night of 4 August 2012, Airman First Class Muonio was riding his bicycle to work when a distracted driver crossed the solid white line onto the shoulder and fatally struck him from behind. This gate has been named after Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio to ensure he is never forgotten...”

This struck me like a ton of bricks. They’ve made his memory a permanent part of life on base, and not only have they preserved his name, but they have lifted him and set him in a place of honor. If you knew Noah, you know that he was a humble man of quiet strength; he did not seek praise nor did he let the praise he earned go to his head; he was the man who was quick to let his acts of service and personal sacrifice go unnoticed or pass by without thanks; he was not self seeking.

So as I consider this honor that has been given him, I can think of few others who could carry it so well as Noah’s name. I think of the miraculous mark of God’s hand all over this lasting memorial--Noah was an Airman First Class who had been at this base for 5 months; gates are usually named after Generals or people with many metals across their heart--and into my mind comes these words from the Lord found in 1 Samuel 2 and Luke 14: “...those who honor Me I will honor,” and “...he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Lord Himself has placed names on the gates of heaven for those He loves and bestows great honor; for Him to give our Noah a gate here on earth is a great honor from the Lord who exalts the humble and honors the one who honors Him.

For some the exaltation from the Lord that comes “in due time” (1 Peter 5:6) begins while they still stand upright beside us, but for others, like Noah, it has been given after he has gone away...maybe to help fill the expanse of the empty space he’s left behind. Either way, I praise the Lord for The Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate and all it means for the preservation of his memory, and I thank the Wright Patterson Air Force Base for being a conduit of honor for this quietly honorable man.