Blog 3

#LIFE#LOVE#LIGHT#FREEDOM#VICTORY Last week I began a journal for “our beautiful girls”, to share memories of days with their “Poppa, Grandpa, ” that they can read when they are older. An experience is not truly complete unless it has been written down and shared with another. It has been fun and thought provoking as well, and I pray it will be a treasure for them as they read my thoughts in years to come, as the Lord tarries. His Word is a love letter to us and gives us insight as we search for His wisdom each and every day. Friday morning as I wrote, this question began to stir in my heart, “how would my beloved want me to be living my life?” As I sat in the sunshine reflecting on his impact on my life and the lives of our family. I wrote “on this day it has been 448 days, 64 weeks since Poppa, Grandpa was gently lifted into the arms of Jesus.” I recalled his love for each of them and our children as I remembered the look on his face as he held them in his arms the day God had brought them into our lives placing their hands in ours and the legacy that he has left behind for us to cherish. As I began to ponder the question above, many emotions flooded my soul as I began to pen what their Poppa, Grandpa might have written to me. On the day that God, in His sovereign will, called his name, his mission on earth completed, we were 22 days away from the 45th year anniversary of the evening God brought him into my life. Through those years, we had exchanged countless notes, letters and cards, and I have been blessed in recent months to read many of his sermon notes and thoughts that he had journaled in gifts from our children, words on scraps of paper, in books or various courses we had shared in Bible Study, Love Dares, and words highlighted in his Bibles. It has been another gift from God that I hold dearly.. He would have wanted me to be serving and living in obedience to the Lord, loving life and pouring life into others, encouraging our children and being silly with our granddaughters. He would want me to be trusting and following the plans that God has for my life, listening to His voice and praying for the salvation of family and friends. He would want me to be passing out Grace rocks, opening my eyes and seeing always, the faithfulness and amazing Grace of our loving Father, and savoring the goodness of His Word. He would want me to be opened to the amazing heart of God as I witness the majesty of His creation, praising Him for all things, and remembering and giving thanks for every day, week, month and year we had shared together. I’m grateful that our loving God shows me daily forgiveness in those moments where I fail Him, especially in those times of grieving and allowing me to realize that He is using my loss to stretch my heart in ways I could not have imagined, taking my pain, heartbreak and empty spot to connect me with others who are suffering, that I might stand alongside of them. I find joy in witnessing the beauty of Spring, the gift of each new day, the sound of the birds singing in the trees, the flowers appearing on the earth, getting my hands into the dirt to repot a plant whose roots have spread deep into the soil, and placing new seeds into good soil which will yield fruit, growing and increasing and bringing a new harvest. And I’m thankful that God allows us to be stewards, sowing spiritual seeds, and desires that we bloom wherever we are planted. ALL GLORY TO GOD!