Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Tribute to Grandpa John
Last Saturday, March 8, my Grandpa John entered into utmost bliss. He passed on from this world and is now in the presence of Christ, free from pain and grief. Grandpa lived a full life. He was filled to the brim with love and acceptance for others. Strangers might have found him a bit gruff but those of us who knew him, knew he was just one big teddy bear. He loved to tease the living daylights out of me and anyone around him. That was one of his love languages. One of my fondest memories of him was his talent of wiggling his ears. As I stood in front of his casket looking down and thanking God for my Grandpa’s life, I wished I could see him wiggle his ears one more time. I guess that will have to wait until we meet again in heaven. I imagine he’s driving the best of the best tractors and being as ornery as ever right now.The hardest part of the funeral was seeing Grandma Dorothy grieve. The most precious moment was when my cousin, Debbie, sang Amazing Grace at the end of the funeral and Grandma sang the entire song with her. The funeral was beautiful and a true celebration of Grandpa John’s life.
Another one of my cousin’s, Tim, wrote another verse to How Great Thou Art in honor of Grandpa. Tim's wife, Arin, sang it while he accompanied her with the guitar. Here it is.
Between green fields, tall with the summer growing,
John gave his time to land and family.
He loved you Lord, in reaping and in sowing
His life declared, my God how great though art...
His life did indeed declare how great our God is. I’m so thankful for the heritage he left and the memories I have of him.
This picture of me and Gramps was taken in 2004 during my college graduation celebration with my family. It was one of the last times all four of my grandparents were together.
I’m celebrating my Grandpa’s home going because 2 Timothy 4:7 rings true in his testimony, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Now that is something to celebrate.
Jamie at 9:19 PM
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Spring, Come Hither!
I do declare the promise of spring is in the air! As I walked out to my car one morning this week I heard birds chirping and it made me smile even though everything in sight was snow covered and it was only 7 measly degrees. It didn’t matter…the birds chirping were enough to give me hope of warmer air, spring flowers, and a sun kissed face. I’ve found there are advantages to this snow though. Another morning this week I went out to my car to find it snow covered and naturally needing to be cleaned off before driving on my merry way to work. Well, this so happened to be the case for one of my neighbor ladies as well so I took the opportunity to introduce myself. It was a brief exchange of conversation, but at least it was something. I find it difficult to meet my neighbors even though I live in an apartment complex. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. So, I was excited for this opportunity and hope to be able to run into her again…perhaps on another snowy morning over the next few weeks.Life has been so full for me, I’ve not had much time to blog and I do believe I need to regress a 
couple months…back to January…and let you know that Peter arrived home safely from Afghanistan. We are all so grateful for this! He managed to make the drive up from Florida a couple weeks after he arrived back in the states. Andy, Elissa, baby Joshua and Peter all stayed at my place for the weekend. It was loads of fun. We played games, saw some pics Peter took over the past year, and just enjoyed hanging out and talking.
couple months…back to January…and let you know that Peter arrived home safely from Afghanistan. We are all so grateful for this! He managed to make the drive up from Florida a couple weeks after he arrived back in the states. Andy, Elissa, baby Joshua and Peter all stayed at my place for the weekend. It was loads of fun. We played games, saw some pics Peter took over the past year, and just enjoyed hanging out and talking.I recently visited Claire and John Claire at their lovely new home. It was surreal to drive up to a house…with a garage and a yard! CRAZY! I’m so glad for them though. They’ve chosen some great colors to paint the house. I’m excited to help decorate little by little as I go visit. We went shopping this time to look for some bargains on decorative items but only found a bathroom rug. I did find a non-spillable coffee travel mug though! I was quite excited. So far it has worked like a charm. I’ve taken to drinking half-caffeinated coffee every morning and forgoing my one a day pop at lunch time. It’s a bit healthier and I don’t get the sugar logged feeling nor the sleepy effect from the coffee as I do from the pop.
Yesterday I enjoyed seeing Shadowlands at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre. The drama was based on the life of C.S. Lewis. It was refreshing, very well done (including the props, staging, and acting), and very moving. It’s a story of love and loss. C.S. fell in love with a lady later in life and found that he had only just begun living once he allowed himself to love. She becomes terminally ill shortly after they fall in love, they marry, and then she dies after a brief remission. I loved his honesty with his friends when they asked him how he was after the fact…trying to give him all the pat answers you give someone whose grieving. His response was: I’m not ok. Where’s God in this? Does He care? Why the suffering? This is a mess! At the end he concludes that the pain he suffers now is part of the happiness then. He didn’t regret loving her, even though it was so hard to lose her to death in the end. The drama was beautifully done, an enriching experience.
Jamie at 2:42 PM
