Days have seemed to run together here. It is now Tuesday. I don't know what happened to the last few days? From the last post I wanted to give an update about Jessie's grandpa. He passed away on Thursday morning. Each day, Jessie would go to the nursing home where he was being cared for. Each day, everyone knew it was coming. With all of Jessie's aunts and uncles there, Jessie saw that Grandpa breathing had changed. She then informed her dad who had been chatting with the family. Then Jessie let the other family know it was time as they had not been paying attention to what was transpiring. He was breathing and then he just stopped. It was finally over. Since November he had been in a nursing home slowly getting worse. My father-in-law had said he had been losing his dad for a long time with Alzheimer yet even in those months leading to his death, Mike was able to love on his dad like he had never done in his whole life time. He was able to hug and kiss him and tell him how much he loved him. Grandpa would always respond with "I love you too".
I would not say that it is a blessing to be here during the time of grandpa's death but realizing that we would normally be trying to figure out if any of us should fly home. If any then how many or can we afford to pay for plane tickets for everyone? It would be a challenge that normally we would be facing being on the mission field. This is just one of the aspects of the life we live being so far from home. Yes it only takes us four and half hours to fly to Chicago but the reality is that we live in a different country separated from our families. We don't get to just go out to eat on Sunday afternoons or get visit for a few hours before we have to put the kids to sleep. We have appreciated the time that God has given us during this time. We are fortunate to be home during this time. Both my in-laws are dealing with the lose of a parent. We may not be able to comfort them with what we say but we are here with them during this time which is one of the most important things. It is the Lord who orchestrates our steps. We are thankful we are here.
I would not say that it is a blessing to be here during the time of grandpa's death but realizing that we would normally be trying to figure out if any of us should fly home. If any then how many or can we afford to pay for plane tickets for everyone? It would be a challenge that normally we would be facing being on the mission field. This is just one of the aspects of the life we live being so far from home. Yes it only takes us four and half hours to fly to Chicago but the reality is that we live in a different country separated from our families. We don't get to just go out to eat on Sunday afternoons or get visit for a few hours before we have to put the kids to sleep. We have appreciated the time that God has given us during this time. We are fortunate to be home during this time. Both my in-laws are dealing with the lose of a parent. We may not be able to comfort them with what we say but we are here with them during this time which is one of the most important things. It is the Lord who orchestrates our steps. We are thankful we are here.
