Life isn’t going to hit the pause button for the next 11 months.
But honestly…
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Last Sunday, August 29th, my Grandpa Howard passed away at the age of 93 in his nursing home in Centerville . You can read about some of his life here, and if you love old pictures as much as I do, check out the slideshow below my mom put together.
He was an incredible man with an admirably gentle and loving spirit. As the world flew past his motorcycles and fighter planes, he countered with calm words of poetry, beautifully expressing himself through a unique lens that I’m thankful to hold on to.
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Through the chaos, I’ve been chewing on the tough words of Christ in Luke 9:57-62:
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.“
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.“
I’ve walked that road beside my Lord.
I’ve committed with my words…
“I am going into this without expectations”
“I’m willing to go anywhere, to anybody, eat anything, sleep anywhere…”
But…I will make excuses.
“Anything…but that…”
“As long as I can hold onto this…”
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after
me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for me will save it.“
“For it is not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God
demands;
it is not even all our time and all our attention;
it is ourselves.“
It is a tough call. It is a harsh call. It may be an offensive call.
But it is His call, to a greater place that He has prepared.
We cannot be paralyzed by our fears, what we are leaving behind, or what we may be missing out on.
What Christ offers isn’t a heartless detachment for the sake of detachment itself, but fulfillment:
– Matthew 6:33
Pray that these aren’t just more words that I commit to now but will make excuses for later. Oh, and my last week in the United States. CRAZY.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” – Philippians 3:7
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…for Grandpa Howard. You’ll be missed.
