Grandpa

When I got the news, I literally had to sit down.  I had never gotten news like that before.  Dad called me on the morning of June 7 to tell me that my grandpa Rodgers had just passed away.  I'm sure he said some other things to, but to be quite honest, not much else registered in our brief conversation.  

I knew that his health had been declining recently. I knew that he'd just received a diagnosis that hurt all of our hearts. But I didn't expect that news.  

I hit the "End" button on my phone and walked the few paces back to the bedroom that I was sharing with a sister worker from Peru.  We had to leave in about ten minutes in order to make it to our breakfast appointment in another home.  Then it would be on to another home to meet up with the brother workers there and travel on together another two plus hours to where we would have lunch.  "Is it even possible to do all that after receiving such a phone call?" I wondered.  I think it was the farthest I have felt from home to date.  

But it is possible to do all of that in spite of difficult circumstances. I think it's a bit of a combination of autopilot and added grace to get through.  

I talked to Mom as we traveled from Portoviejo to Las Mercedes.  Once we reached our destination, I didn't know how able I'd be to communicate for the rest of the week as there's hardly any cell service in Las Mercedes.  

In the afternoon, I traveled half an hour or so back into the town of Olmedo to call Grandma from a payphone.  It was comforting to me to hear her talk about all the things that were comforting to her at that time.  

In all of this, I never imagined that it would be possible for me to return home for Grandpa's funeral.  I was in the middle of Special Meeting rounds and in the middle of nowhere besides.  

BUT all things came together, and arrangements were made for me to fly out of Guayaquil on Sunday night after the meetings at Las Mercedes ended that afternoon.  I would arrive home somewhere around midday on Monday.  The visitation was scheduled for Monday afternoon and the funeral for Tuesday morning.  I would return to Ecuador on Wednesday so as to be present for our workers' meeting at El Cristal on Thursday morning.  A bit of a whirlwind trip, but my gratitude for being able to go was great.

Writing has always been therapeutic for me.  This is what came to me on June 7, 2017.

My grandpa was a good man.

He had a sense of humor.

He could lose time and time again and still enjoy playing.

He cared about people and helped while staying in the background.

He appreciated simple things.

He loved his family.

He knew how to suffer without complaining.

He was dependable.

My grandpa was a good man.

But my comfort does not come from the fact that my grandpa was a good man.

My comfort today, the day that marks the end of my grandpa's life here on earth, is the fullness of Christ's provision and the surety of the resurrection.

Earthly bonds have been broken, and that brings pain and tears because I am, we are, human. But to God, my grandpa is just as alive as he ever was.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was and is the God that my grandpa spent his life serving - the God of the living, not of the dead.

This is not the end. It is the beginning of a life that is wonderful beyond comprehension.

And so while beautiful memories of my precious grandpa cause me to smile through my tears,

My comfort comes from believing that what God has said is true and resting in His care.