Attending Raven Goff’s Funeral Service

I went to a funeral service for someone I never met, but it changed my life for the better.

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Raven Goff, a six year old girl from Burleson, TX, was in a tragic accident on January 11, 2020. Her parents asked the community to pray for a miracle, and a miracle is what was received.

Raven Goff passed away on January 13, 2020. Her parents, Tanner Trujillo and Shane Goff, made the decision to  donate her organs through Life Gift, providing a miracle for 7 patients and many many more…

Raven’s story has touched the world.  Raven’s story, and her parent’s story of faith and strength, traveled from Burleson to other cities. It then traveled out of Texas, receiving prayers from Oklahoma, California and Utah, just to name a few.  Raven’s miracle was so strong, it made an impact on viewers in all 50 states and quickly traveled to other countries, too!

During Raven’s Celebration Of Life, Pathway Church’s Pastor, Rick Owen, said, “God sent a Raven to feed the world.”

“God had called out a prophet named Elijah, and a prophet is someone that God sends to speak to the people,” he said. “He was letting them know, through Elijah, that there was going to be a famine and there was not going to be water to supply the crops.  And so he sends out Elijah, and Elijah does what he’s supposed to do. Now, Elijah himself, is hungry and he is thirsty. God says, ‘Elijah go over here and hide in this little ravine. And when you get to the ravine, I’m going to send you the ravens. And the raven will bring you food and bread.’ And God did.”

And just as God sent the raven to restore Elijah, Paster Rick Owen explained that God sent Raven to restore families around the world.

 “Our Raven was just full of God’s love. Just saturated; it just poured out of her. And some of you in places around the world, what you don’t know, is that all of a sudden when you got captured by the story of the Raven, all the barriers broke. And all of a sudden it didn’t matter that you’re black, that you’re white. That you’re rich, that you’re poor. That you live in Africa or you live in Jerusalem. You are a communist, you are American. You are a Republican, you are a Democrat. Single, married, divorced. We’re just all people. Human beings. And through little Raven we got reminded that lots of stuff that divides us really doesn’t matter. Because we are all children of one God. And even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.”

It was powerful!  And I am so glad I was there to experience the love, strength and faith in Pathway Church that rainy January afternoon.  In fact, I’ve never been so touched by a community that came together to show their support and celebrate all that Raven is.  I sat upstairs in a single seat, surrounded by 2,000 of Raven’s family, friends, classmates and other strangers.  And it was probably one of the best, uplifting funerals I have ever been to.

And though it may have been Raven Goff’s funeral service, she isn’t done, yet.  Her spirit, smile and gift of saving lives continues.  I see it throughout Burleson and in online communities:  When I see a blackbird, I think of Raven’s impact.  When I see Raven’s favorite colors (pink and purple), I think of Raven. When I see children laughing, singing and playing, I think of Raven.

“Are organs the only thing that made Raven saves lives?” Tanner (mom) said. “…the only limit of lives that Raven saved depends on you. It depends on me. We are the only limiting factor on how many people Raven can save with her story. Infinite. Generations. I’d rather focus on that. Lives. Not just organ donation. Lives.” 

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Raven Goff’s funeral service can be viewed online.

The community of Burleson has joined forces to create fundraisers to benefit Raven’s parents:
– Riding for Raven will be held on January 26, beginning at the Fuel City, 1107 N. U.S. 67 in Cedar Hill.
– Forever Cravin Raven will be held on February 23 at Old Town Brewing Company in Burleson.
– Information on t-shirts, decals, keychains, Go Fund Me accounts, etc. can be found on the Cravin Raven facebook page.  #CravinRaven