Cody was a very special, unique young man. Some people may think that Cody’s illness gave him a different perspective on life, and that’s what made him unique. Maybe that is part of the story, but there was so much more… Let me try to explain:

You may have enjoyed a stroll through a store, but if you didn’t see the spirit of Jesus walking with you, sharing that moment, you missed a special intimate moment with Jesus.

You may have known there was something you couldn’t do physically, but if you’ve never experienced doing that very feat in your spirit with Jesus, you’ve missed the meaning of “I can do all things through Christ.”

You may have seen someone say or do something funny, but if your spirit has never seen Jesus do something silly to make you laugh, you’ve missed a private joke with Jesus.

You may have been concerned about a loved one, but if Jesus has never shown you how He can care for them, you’ve missed an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate His concern for you and your loved one.

Cody knew what it was like for Jesus to breathe for him. He shared even the most monotonous or mundane events with Him. Cody knew he could do anything he wanted and he shared a very interesting sense of humor with Jesus.

What I am trying to convey is that these opportunities you and I so often miss, Cody not only completely knew and understood, but he lived them.

There were things Cody just knew about God. In Bible study with him, there were things I wondered, but Cody knew. It’s like talking to David or Donna now about Cody; they know what he would think or say. And so it was with Cody and Jesus.

I have one last scenario:

You may find peace in knowing you’ll eventually go to heaven (as long as it’s not too soon!) and you will find relief from this world’s struggles… But if you are not sharing every moment with Jesus now, you are missing the biggest certainty that Cody lived, which is:

The kingdom of heaven is come, the kingdom of heaven is within, and the kingdom of heaven is NOW. Eternal life begins NOW – not when you die. The time for living is now.

This is what was most special and unique about Cody – he TRULY LIVED every day with Jesus.

Following are Jim Adams' comments from Cody' service (Jim was Cody's Sunday school leader and Disciple Class teacher. He serves on the Board of the Cody Lane Foundation):

I want to thank David, Donna, Hayden and Lindsey for the privilege and honor to speak to you this morning about my hero, Cody Lane, and to tell you why Cody made my somewhat short hero list. As someone who has lived over six decades, I had the opportunity to grow up in the 50's and 60's, which represents a period of time when young people had a lot of heroes in various fields of endeavor. There were a number of people who stood out as excelling in certain arenas of life. I remember the likes of Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays in baseball, and Bob Pettit in the NBA. I looked up to these men and their accomplishments. It was also a time when young men of war who had achieved great recognition on the battlefield were idolized by all the young fellows who fought against Nazi Germany in the fields and forests of Decatur, Georgia.

As I grew older and became more aware of what our heroes were actually like in real life, I began to redefine my list of heroes. Thus, in my later years, my list of heroes became limited to Biblical people who stood the test of time: St. Paul, St. Peter and the like.

Last year, I had the honor of telling Cody Lane that he was the only living member of my hero list. I told him this with total confidence that he would not betray my confidence I had put in him, though he was of the class which the Psalmist called "mortal men." Why did I make this exception? Because I believed with all my heart and soul that Cody Lane was holy, as would be defined by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I questioned Cody last year as I helped facilitate his Disciple Bible Study. Here are some examples of the questions posed to Cody and his answers to those queries:

Jim: "What keeps you from getting discouraged?"

Cody: "What keeps me from being discouraged is remembering those things Jesus has said to me and says to me."

Jim: "I can see the love of God throughout the rest of the Bible but I struggle with the Law. What am I missing???"

Cody: "Doesn't Jesus say that all the Law is summed up in Love God with all your heart and soul and strength? What's to get lost about in the Law if that sums up the Law? Maybe we get lost because we don't start with love from our heart, and we try to do things with our behavior and choices that really need to start in our hearts, according to God, but our hearts are not starting with Love God."

Jim: "Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart?"

Cody: "This hardening of the heart is a natural consequence of turning away from God; it happens to anyone who does so, us too. The presence of God makes the heart new, opens the heart up, and softens the heart that is like stone. When we turn away and deny God access to our hearts, our hearts are hardened by this refusal of God. So God, through 10 plagues, set out to give evidence to Pharaoh that He was indeed God, instead of Pharaoh being god as the Egyptians believed. In doing so, God was pursuing Pharaoh, seeking to reveal Himself to Pharaoh as the One true God. Yet, as the Bible describes, Pharaoh was "unyielding," meaning he would not allow the witness of God to enter his heart. In other words, Pharaoh "did not take it to heart." This is consistent with God's nature, and His stated desire that it is not God's will that one be lost, even Pharaoh. So had Pharaoh yielded his heart, his heart would not have been hardened and he would have responded by setting the Israelites free. However, he never humbled himself before God or acknowledged God as the One true God in his heart.

In one of the last emails I received from Cody, he asked if I could ask him "some harder questions." Hopefully, it is now clear to you why I consider Cody Lane as a worthy candidate for my list of heroes, and why until around noon on Thursday he was the last living member of this list.