The day after thanksgiving my grandfather passed away… He was the most helpful, understanding, loving person, and had a genuine smile that touched so many lives. What I admired most about him was dedication to Christ, his family, church, community, and county.
As I reflect back on my memories with my Pa, I can think of so many, one avid memory of mine is hiking through the pastures with my Pa getting greenery to make arrangements and to decorate for Christmas. This week as I prepared for a wedding and was decorating for Christmas, I went on that same hike we used to go on. While on those walks we used to talk about life, goals, dreams, and anything in between. This time when I hiked through the pastures I could feel his presence, but in a different way. As I walked having a talk with God about things that are going on and not understanding the reasoning behind the last few events that have happened in the last few weeks something came over me. I can’t explain the feeling I got while hiking, but I could feel my Pa’s arms wrap around me and tell me that he was proud of me and direction I was doing in my life, just like he used too.
I wanted to share with you something my brother spoke about at my Pa’s funeral; it explains my Pa and his life to T.
¨ Question: “What is my purpose? What is our purpose?”
¨ The more I read I know our purpose is to serve God.
¨ Question: “How do I live with purpose?”
¨ God says in Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 and 39 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”
¨ Jesus says that these are the two greatest commandments. And these commands should shape every thing we do with the time the Lord has given us on Earth. When we do these two things, we will find God and we will see him work through us.
¨ Pa was a great example of a man who lived with purpose.
¨ He always put God and this Church first, and he never met a stranger or turned somebody down that needed his help. Because of that he lived with pure joy, and put joy in the hearts of others.
¨ I know that this is true because the thing people said that they will remember the most was his smile. With or without his teeth.
¨ Because Pa lived with such purpose, he has left an outstanding legacy, one that all of us can remember. He loved the Lord and reflected his love to others.
¨ As we leave here today I would encourage all of us to be a little more like Pa, storing our treasures in Heaven instead of on Earth, and letting our love overflow into the lives of those around us.
¨ Finally, one of the last things I told Pa was that I was proud to be a Black and proud to be his grandson. And with all of you being here today I know that we realize that we lost a great man on Earth, but heaven has gained a Great Angel!
This speech is so true about my Pa, and what he lived for… I am also proud to be a Black and proud to be his granddaughter. God gave me the best guardian angel for my trip that I am about to embark on.
