(I did a search for pictures for tonight’s blog and found NONE…other than this one. So this is IT! It is of Steph in HIGH SCHOOL from the Indianapolis Star!)
Had he not died in 1986, today would have been my grandpa’s 96th birthday. And to be very honest, I always believed he would be around this long. People in my family tend to live long and healthy lives…..thus, I was with my grandma (his wife) on Monday in Goshen. She is just 95!
But today is also the anniversary of my ordination, and I will not bore you with how many years it has been, but if you’d guess 22, you’d be right. I remember going in thinking how very cool and easy this will all be, and how I would light the world on fire. I still have the enthusiasm, but no longer the delusion. I have a lot of good years left, and much to accomplish, yet it has been challenging, if not down right hard a lot of the time.
BUT, I am thankful for the opportunity I have been given, as well as for this life I am living. Two of my sisters await me in heaven with my grandpa, although they probably are not awaiting my arrival with the same sense of anticipation of my grandpa. But I am sure they have SOME sense of desire to see me again, not quite minimal, but measurable.
Anyway, it has been a day of memories and fond ones at that. I would go back and do some things differently if I could, but life continues on before me.
Today however, I will not be bothered by such things, but I WILL remember the blessings.
It has been a good day. Happy Birthday Grandpa, if such things have meaning in heaven! And if they don’t, well then, they are still important to me!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+