He walked with God...

One of my favorite hymns:

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

In a few days our family is going to come together and celebrate a man who lived His life walking with God. 

It is so easy to just mourn our loss – and the loss is great – but we MUST remember to celebrate his Life, and his life was a life worth celebrating.

I didn’t know him very long.  In fact, the first time I met him was just a few months before the Mr. and I got married, and it was less than 6 months from when we started dating.  But He loved and accepted me from before we had ever met.

I know that My Mr. is going to miss him dearly.  At first the loss seems so great and so overwhelming, but soon the pain of our loss will diminish.  But on life’s more momentous moments, especially when we have our first baby, that tender ache will reappear. 

For the last few months of his life, Papaw stayed with my in-laws.  My Mother-in-law took care of him, and in the last few weeks very rarely left his side.  I know that it was hard for her, and I know that it exhausted her – more mentally & emotionally than physically – but she never once wavered.  It was SUCH a testimony to both My Mr. and I of how we are suppose to take care of our parents in their final days.  (This is not to say that elderly care facilities do not have their place, because they do!) 

Papaw lived a full life, just shy of 89 years.  He worked hard, raised 2 wonderful daughters, was faithful and took care of His wife through her dying days, but most importantly He walked with Jesus. 

We can rest in the promise the Papaw is in a better place, that he is worshiping at the feet of his Savior, that he is reunited with his Bride, and that he is no longer in pain.

When the generations above us start to pass, we do mourn our loss, but we also know that they lived a full life.  But death, of any kind, always reminds me that this life is fleeting and our days are finite.  It always makes me think about how I can live my life to the fullest, and I always come back to Loving God more than everything, and choosing Jesus before everything else.  When you do that, everything else just falls into place. No one has ever said “Man, I really regret choosing Jesus”.

My Mr’s Papaw lived a full life walking with Jesus.  I challenge myself to do the same.