Marked. This word has been on my mind the last few
days. It was just last Saturday when
life was fairly normal and the family was marking everything down in the garage
sale we were having. But May 6, as we
would soon learned wasn’t just a day for marking garage sale items, it was the
day that will forever be marked as grandpa’s homecoming. The day that grandpa got to stand before
Jesus and see him face to face like he told us just days before that he was
ready to do.
I want to
just highlight some of the things that Grandpa’s life was marked by and how he
will be remembered by me.
He was
marked with Adventure- It was normal for
grandpa even at the age of 95 to climb the Michigan dunes and come to the
beach. Of course he would follow it up
by going to the water and wading a bit before just diving into the freezing
cold water and end up floating on his back with his toes up.
Grandpa’s
life was marked by selflessness- Grandpa
was always more concerned about others and taking care of others. This could be seen in how he took care of my
grandma who had arthritis. For 52 years
he stood by her side and loved her deeply.
Never once did grandpa ever complain.
Also,
Grandpa’s life was centered on family.
Grandpa was the one person I looked up to the most in life. We had a special bond. Maybe because I was the only grandkid here in
town, but it went beyond that. Grandpa
invested into my life in times when I needed it most. God knew that I would need an example of what a Godly man looked like. He has and will always be the example of what I want in my life. I thank God for giving me that example.
When I was paralyzed
and in the hospital, grandma and grandpa made many trips up to Chicago to see
me. When I returned home and had to go
to out patient therapy, it was my grandpa who would willingly drive across town
everyday to pick me up and take me when
mom had to go back to work. But grandpa
wasn’t just a carpool service. He took
that time to invest in me. Every time
after therapy he would take me out to lunch, He would hold doors open, he’d
asked me about my life, and he’d speak truth into my heart. Grandpa did not just love with words, but
with his actions. In fact, grandpa would
always drop whatever he was doing or the plans he had to spend time with
you.
But, If
there is one thing that Grandpa would want to be remembered for and shared with
others, it would be that he was marked in Christ. He lived his life to honor God. You see, two days before he died, we got the
opportunity to sit down next to him and hear him tell us about how he was ready
for heaven and ready to see Jesus.
Grandpa was marked with the gift of salvation. The Bible says, in Romans 10:9 “If you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
I know for a fact, that grandpa had accepted Christ, and therefore he
was marked. His greatest desire in life
was to show others Gods consuming love so they may choose to believe and accept
Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
My thoughts
this week have centered around this verse found in Ephesians 1:13-14. The verse reads “You were also included in
Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel and salvation. When you believed it, you were MARKED in him
with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the
praise of His glory.”
Just three
hours before grandpa passed away, the emergency room doctor asked him if he
wanted to sign his own name to admit himself into a hospital room or if he’d
rather have his daughters do it. I sat
there and watched grandpa sign his own name.
Three hours later, I pictured grandpa signing his name the same way….but
this time into the book of Life looking into the eyes of Jesus telling him
“Well Done, Good and faithful servant.”
Grandpa, I
love you, miss you, and hold desperately to the promise that I too will be with
you once again in heaven. Thank you for
loving me so well. You will be missed
but we were so blessed by your everyday on Earth.
