Grandpa

Isn't it wierd that everytime I now see a cute old man I think of my grandpa. It makes me miss him a lot, the realization of never seeing him again is tough.
I wanted to share what I wrote to be read at the viewing and family services since I couldn't be there.

Grandpa!
Well, as many of you know I would love to be here with you more than anything,

but once again things beyond my control prevent that from happening,

and I know that God has allowed it for a reason.
I am so thankful for the many years and memories I have of grandpa, one of the most precious memories I have of Grandpa was when I came to Canada for a few weeks a couple years ago; it was a sweet time of just me spending time with grandpa. We went for a drive and he took the long back gravel roads home and explained every road. When he grated it, what he and grandma were doing at the time, funny stories of the kids and of course there were always great stories about riding horses, dating grandma and snow so high you couldn’t see the houses.
We went to the farm house – took some pictures and just remembered,

I could listen to him tell stories all day long.
Tuesday morning I was at home with Troy and I just needed to find a picture, to see him again. I found a few wonderful pictures, of us at the farm house as kids, the house in Humboldt, family reunions, playing the fiddle, my college graduation, seeing how he cared for and loved Grandma unconditionally. The one picture in particular grabbed my attention, the one of the old farm house, it may not even be there any more but in this picture it was pretty much just a collapsing structure with piles of flooring, walls and old appliances inside. It reminded me that things of this world will and do not last, our relationship with God, family and individuals are what matter and

that my hope isn’t in this world but in Jesus Christ.
He is the only one that can satisfy and the only one that can comfort in a

time where we lose someone we love so much.
Grandpa was more than a grandpa to me, he was my protector, provider, a father when I needed one, he was faithful to us (his family), he amazed me – he could find the string in the middle of the match, pull it and magically cause it to break in two, he put me to bed, took me to school and tried so hard to help me with math. He loved me at a time in my life

when love was all I needed and wanted.
I will miss this man we all called Grandpa, Dad, Brother, Fiddler, Bowler, Golfer, Grader and Friend. I pray we all reflect on his life and his death and realize that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. May we live every day as it is our last, and remember what is most important, our Great God and our precious family.
I love you all!

Our Great God

God was working on my heart this morning…and I wanted to share.

Wednesday morning is when our Point Man group meets. The Point Man group concept has always been touted as a men’s accountability group at our church, but they tend to be more of a Bible study and prayer time in my experience. Recently, however, I’ve been challenged by some in our group to focus more on the accountability issues.

So, our group is currently studying the life of Job. Last week’s lesson had to due with Job’s integrity. When I sent out the morning’s prayer requests last week, I also sent out a little challenge regarding our integrity and how it applies the way each of us is living our daily walk. In this morning’s meeting, though, the challenge was presented by another member of the group.

Today’s lesson was on Elihu’s assault of Job, and Swindoll concluded the chapter we’re reading by challenging us to consider how we view God’s involvement in our lives. How much impact does He have? How much impact can He have? Do we have big view of God or a little view of God?

As I scrambling to finish up my reading last night, I read the words on the page. I even answered the questions…”sure, my God is a BIG god.” But, I didn’t really think about what was being asked until one member of our group brought it up this morning. He simply stated that as a matter of accountability that wanted to share something that was on his heart. Basically it was regarding worries about the future and not thinking God is big enough to be in control of that aspect of his life. His challenge to us was to consider areas of our life that we’ve taken God out of…areas we don’t think God is big enough to be in control of.

It didn’t take long for all of us to realize there are areas in each of our lives that we’ve “taken control” of and excluded God from…areas that we once laid at God’s throne but have given up on…areas that we’ve “taken control” of, but aren’t making progress…areas that we’ve quit praying about because we’ve taken God out of the question. Maybe it’s because God’s got a different agenda than us, maybe His timing is simply not ours, maybe its just that He’s teaching…

A few of us welled up, shed tears, and even flat out cried…because that simple challenge helped us to come to the realization that while we tell ourselves that our God is big enough, we don’t always live like it. It was a good reminder to me that there are areas in my own life that I’ve tried to take out of God’s hands, and it’s time to turn them back over to Him.

I simply wanted to share because I know what that “little” challenge from my friend this morning made me realize…