Last week we celebrated my Dad's birthday and the two year anniversary of my Granddad's home going. It is kind of fitting is it not? A celebration of life mortal and life immortal. A giving thanks for an earthly beginning that will soon come to an end and an unearthly beginning that knows no end.
Everything is put in perspective. Life is short. This race will soon be over. Faint not!
Exposure to death, in a personal way, supplies us with a new appreciation for life and the power of the resurrection. Oh what glory awaits the children of God!!!!
My reason for this post was to say thank you. To say thank you to the One who has mercifully provided me with a manly father who's heart for the Lord and vision for the future has allowed our family to be a part of His Kingdom's advancement. To say thank you for being allowed to be able to see for myself His faithfulness in the life of my Grandaddy and to learn and be challenged from a man who fought for what he knew was right with a heart for the needy and broken.
I want to say thank you to my Dad who has shown me that we must always be reforming towards God's word regardless of what others might say or think. Daddy, I have watched you mourn. I have seen you laugh. I have observed you make difficult decisions. I have seen you gladly share your possessions with others. I have witnessed you come broken before the Lord. I have seen you cry. I have observed you lead. I have watched you stand up for truth. I have witnessed you making mistakes and admitting your wrong. I have seen you serve. I have seen you encourage. I have watched you instruct. I have observed you being instructed. I have perceived your love for Christ's Church. I have seen your commitment to being a part of a local body. You have disciplined me. You have poured yourself into me. You have taught me God's word. You have allowed me to experience history for myself. You have helped me pursue the talents and gifts God has given me. You have daily reminded me of God's goodness. You have shown me what it is to be hospitable. You have loved and instructed me. And for this I want to say Thank YOU!
I want to say thank you to my Grandfather, who to this day, is still my motivation to press on and conquer in Christ. He not only taught others to be fighters, he was one. As a child, his lessons drove me towards performing my absolute best whatever activity I was doing. Today as life's trials have become a bit bigger, I can still hear his loud voice shouting after me to strive forward. Life is a battle that as Christians we can NOT abstain from. The last week of his life my grandmother came out with a story about his childhood that none of us had heard, not even my dad. We all had known that his parents were divorced when he was a baby and that his mother had remarried and had two boys. Yet none of us had realized the lack of love he had received as a child. He had never told any of us about it. No, instead of becoming bitter over the situation, he was broken and God used his brokenness to change hundreds of lives. He was known for his compassionate heart towards kids in broken homes with no future.
Grandaddy, you have inspired me to never give up, no matter how difficult it seems. You have helped me see that brokenness in one person's life can affect an abundance of other people. You have shown me that God delights in a heart of compassion. You have taught me what it's like to live for Christ. You have shown me what it is like to die for Christ. You have loved me. And for this I want to say Thank YOU!
I heard someone say that- "We should never pass up an opportunity to say thank you to someone who has touched our lives."
These men have done so much more than just touch my life. How can I EVER say thank you!
"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus..." -1 Corinthians 1:4
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