NTM

"I remember all the holes in his socks!" said another. "What I remember," replied yet another, "Is how when ever I stayed overnight, I would wake up and always see grandpa sitting at the table with his Bible and his coffee."

This was Christmas…an unexpected different -than- usual Christmas. The living room was packed, and memory after memory was shared around the room about my Dad, who had passed away only 10 days earlier.

Family members were not the only ones to talk about how special my Dad was…when I went into the florist shop to help figure out the floral arrangements for the funeral, a teacher of mine who worked there shared about how years ago Dad had found out she and her children needed wood. He and my uncle loaded up a truckload of wood and brought it to her. This was my Dad. This was normal. He and my mom were always helping somebody.

This "helping others" was not "good works" to my Dad. He didn’t do it to earn a spot in heaven. Dad would be the first to tell you that wouldn’t work. Salvation is a free gift from God, and not based on our works.

So why did Dad help others? Why did he spend time, money and energy on others…especially when he was usually pressed for time, money, and energy himself? I believe it was because Dad, motivated by the love of Christ, genuinely cared about how others were doing. He was a hard-working, strong-as-an-ox farmer who was a bit of a "softie." He truly "did unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Now, our whole family is experiencing "others doing unto us." The outpouring of love, food, cards, gifts, memories, verses, words of encouragement, work, and much much more has been appreciated. And yes, my uncle, the same uncle who helped Dad bring a load of wood to my teacher, brought over a load of wood for my mom…

For more photos (and precious memories) click here