Camp, little blessings, etc.

Dear Sweetheart,

We, my parents and I, dropped one of the kids from my inner city ministry, where I'm assistant director, off at camp - her family couldn't - early last month. I'm asking those to read to pray for her and some other girls whom she sees like family as they go to a differfent church, that they be welcomed with open arms and really get into growing in the Lord and in all their activities, especially since it's a richer neighborhood by far than theirs. But, God wants to keep growing this church and push it and them to the next level.

For now, some thoughts I'd written, then put off for various reasons and not finished.

This is partly one of those posts where I share how the Lord has given me little glimpses of life as a dad. This certainly was that - the joy of seeing this girl go at the last minute (we're talking the afternoon of our camp's 50th anniversary celebration, the day before we'd drop her off Sunday evening - 3 days' notice like we had last year was too much this time :-)), the prayers I've prayed for her and others paying off (including that she wouldn't be homesick last year) and so on. And, especially the prayers that she really grow spiritually and make a break from some negative influences and not let them lead her astray.

It's a bit of a post about my friend Rick, whom you met 2.5 years ago or seconds ago or however the time works in Heaven, who was always volunteering to drive people places, and how grateful I am to have parents who will do this since I can't see well enough to drive.

It's even partly to consider how I have been a part of so many lives, how it is hard to consistently pray when I am not consistently with those kids like I would have prayed for you. But how God brings certain situations to mind at just the right time.

Most of all, it shares how God puts little blessings in my life when I don't deserve it, just like he does for everyone who trusts him to do so.

I don't really say it could have been you that I was taking the camp. I certainly don't say it should have been - God has the perfect plan.

Yet, I understand why some would say "should" because they are closer to that situation, perhaps less time has elapsed or the grieving process is just so different when they actually knew that child. I know another of your friends, Blake, was stillborn and that mother thinks of him everyday.

It's funny, though. As I wait for God's perfect timing to just hear about her situation and keep praying that God will pour out blessings of Love on to them, I sense that God had me praying for them more because he knew we would have less time. And, we had to take advantage of all the time we had.

That is something we all must do. And, something we will not have to worry about in heaven. Time shall be no more, it will be so different from this world where we are in that fourth dimension of time and we can find time slips away so quickly.

I am so glad we took her there. I've tried to take advantage of every opportunity because I sensed for years that the child God had for me may wind up in Heaven instead of with me on Earth. It is so sad that someone like me takes more advantage of these little opportunities to help than her family cares to do. But that is why there are Ministries like ours.

There is so much need. And, maybe that is one reason why you are where you are. It would have been so much fun to take you to camp and to see you grow in the Lord. But my place is here with others till that special day when we meet for the first time. Till that day when we won't have partings or any sorrow.

Some call it a happy place where we don't think about the stresses of life quite as much. It's like trying to create a bit of Heaven here on Earth. We can't do anything close to how wonderful it will be up there, I know.

I know, however, that till I get there, you are rooting me on. In some funny way, I can even imagine it is sort of like dropping you off at camp. You are with God's people someplace far better than even that though. And while I deal with everything here on Earth, you have such wonderful joy in Heaven.

I don't need to wonder if you are having a good time because I know it is wondrous there, so awesome words can't describe. And, sometimes that is the strength I need to keep going because I know but you will be so proud of me.

I'm sorry, maybe this one rambled a little bit more than normal. I guess that happens when you start it a month and a half earlier. I know however that you understand. You understand how important all those little blessings are. And I am especially thankful that Jesus has given me the ability to have these blessings.

Till we meet.

Love,
Daddy

Missing you and asking Jesus to give you a cookie

Sweetheart,

I hope you enjoyed the cookies. Yes, I was having one as a snack tonight and I asked Jesus to give you one.

I know, your silly daddy is just being himself huh? I'm sure Jesus gave you one and it was more awesome than anything one could have here on Earth. But, I was just thinking about you and the fact I'll be 50 soon. I told my best friend Sander who I was visiting on his 50th that I was still thinking about adoption but that you were in Heaven waiting for me and I was content and less God really opens a door soon.

So, I imagine you had the Lord just give you one and say it was from me. Jesus is such a faithful friend such times. He knows what we have need of before we need it, sometimes we just don't step out in faith like we should. I'm glad I stepped out and started looking into it and prayed hard about 5 to 7 years ago before I finally had my prayers answered in an unusual way. I would have enjoyed taking you on vacation with me.

I was thinking also about how God has given me little things that I don't always notice that's make me feel kind of like it would be you in a way. Like when we took our inner-city ministry kids to Dairy Queen and without being asked one girl open the door for my dad who has Parkinson's and helped him out of the car and with his Cane and then helped him to the door and took his hand and guided him when we had to drop him off at home before the kids we're dropped off at church because he was more tired. I was so proud of Adrianna for doing that, and I told her so. My mom did too. She has grown so much in the Lord that while she still struggles quite a bit you can see more and more of that spark of putting others first. It wasn't until tonight that I realized, you would be younger most likely by a few years but you would have had the advantage of being with a family vet would encourage you in the Lord since the time you were adopted. So, in a way, that was God showing me a glimpse of you.

Those glimpses come in other things I've mentioned also, both good and bad. I know you wouldn't have been perfect, but thankfully you are in heaven where you don't have to worry about all the temptations of this world or all the mean people.

You might well have tried to help some of them to be nice, and maybe you would have learned how. Maybe you'd have the desire to be a Christian counselor. Whatever you chose, you would  have faced disappointments when people didn't listen like a good friend from grade school and high school who really went bad after what I think for some very traumatic experiences in college. He became very rude and mean because I was standing up for others who did not like the vulgar attitude he was displaying. I tried to show him how to be kind and use better language but he wasn't willing to listen. I didn't even brag about how I was so nice, but he didn't like the sweet, gentle, compassionate attitude, probably because he was too busy fighting the demons inside him, whatever they were.

I still pray for him though. And, maybe others who read can also. I don't know if you pray up in heaven, I know Jesus always makes intercession for us. And, I know he knows the pain and heartache we feel down here on Earth. And one of the things that comforts me is that you don't need to face that.

Thankfully, I know Jesus as my savior, I have called on him to forgive me of my sins and trust that he is God in flesh and that he took the punishment for my sins when he died on the cross and rose from the dead. I have trusted him to save me and make me new inside. And, I pray that everyone who reads this will also.

I'll be with you someday.  In the meantime, in those times when I do miss you a little, I know Jesus knows how I feel and that he will comfort Me In help me with everything. So till that time, I can be glad did I have a little piece of you in the number of places. Yes, I'd be old enough to be a grandfather now so you'd be out of the house if I had had you early enough. That helps, too, at least with the fact that there are good reasons why you aren't here. But I don't have the memories I could if you had been born so I could have adopted you.

Thankfully, God always provides just what I need. Sometimes with others, sometimes that's still small voice this has me so delighted as I consider such silly little things is sharing a cookie with you as a bedtime snack, asking God to give you one up there, and wondering just what it's like. And hearing and imagining that sweet giggle with your comment, "it's a surprise Daddy."

Till I see you and have the big surprise.

Love,
Daddy

Vacation thoughts

Sweetheart,

With my dad getting older and unsure if I will make it back next year to a wonderful vacation place called Treasure Island Florida, I got to thinking about the memories. I know you have time so I'm not going to be that silly Daddy who doesn't want to interrupt because I know you're going to say you're in Heaven and you have all the time there because there is no such thing as time there.

Okay, that sounded silly itself didn't that?

You don't need me to share about how my great-grandparents found the place in 1966 when they had driven someplace, found it not that good, and then just drove up the beach to a motel called Suncoast. That started the tradition of staying in Treasure Island, the Suncoast was the first of a variety of places.

You've also no doubt heard of how when my grandparents and Mom and I went down in the 70s oh, Grandpa would do like he did at home, sometimes jokingly stepping out the door and acting like an outfielder making a barehanded catch with both hands. Only I didn't know he had an egg hidden somewhere and so he would return showing me that he had caught a flied egg. You heard about that too, and all the other fun memories.

I've shared that with others, as I have what Grandpa would say to get me to try new foods, that it grows hair between your toes. It's great to share those things because I have the chance to pass things on that were so special. That's one of the great things about having such a wonderful and loving family, that we can do that.

But there are some things that are better to experience, like feeding the seagulls and taking so many pictures of those even when cameras were limited to 24 pictures and you had to get them developed. Or how much fun it was to go to the sea castle each year and walk the beach, one year at midnight - an hour before it closed - because that's when are shuttle got in after the plane got in to the airport at 11 p.m. And then setting a record for latest going to bed at 1:02 a.m. that lasted, well, only 8 years till the 1984 Summer Olympics opened. It just felt like longer because that was over half my life once that record was finally broken when I was almost 15.

I would have taking a late night stroll with you on the beach just to let you experience that fun, how amazing it is that the weather changes once the sun goes down and the wind starts picking up. I'm sure you would have enjoyed a late night swim or two like I did last year. We'd have had so much fun walking the beach and going to different restaurants, especially our favorites over the last few decades. 

I think the netting prevents seagulls from stealing a hot dog like one did mine when I was little oh, at the public beach. But we have still seen birds flying so close it's incredible. And then the silliness like when my mom change the lines of a sudden a bit while laughing out loud, singing "Mona Lisa Mona Lisa why didn't you tell me?" We had so much fun there, even though there's that one intersection that's so bad that my grandpa literally pulled an Alan Shepard (an astronaut who peed his pants on purpose to let coffee out because the g-forces might have ruptured his bladder since he was delayed on the launch tower for a few hours) because he couldn't wait to figure out how in the world to cross it because there are about 5 different roads that intersect at it. Yeah, if we would have gone without someone else we'd be crossing a little further down the beach at Sloppy Joes to get to Gigi's.

Who knows what fun new memories we have made as well. I avoided looking silly by pretending to carry you on my shoulders as I walked back to our room at my uncle's timeshare a few times, I actually spend a lot of great time in prayer when swimming and walking like that. So there wasn't really the need to do that. However, I have found myself asking a few times if the Lord could give me a beach somewhere near my heavenly mansion.

Yes, this is where I so easily hear you giggling and whispering oh, "it's a surprise Daddy." It's so amazing what God has for us, we can't even imagine the Wonders that await us. That makes his grace and mercy even more amazing, because Jesus Christ, God in flesh, die to take the punishment for each of our sins and rose from the dead and all one has to do is call on him and trust him as Savior and receive his free gift of eternal life by faith alone.

There might be people just reading this blog who call out, "Lord Jesus, forgive me for I am a sinner, come into my heart and make me new inside, I trust you as my savior, that you died to take the punishment for my sins and rose again, and I invite you into my heart and life today."

That’s all anyone has to do as long as they’re trusting in Jesus by faith. It’s not about a church or anything, and Jesus makes them new so their “want to” changes.

 

So many other funny things, like someone putting cigarettes in a clam’s mouth in the ‘70s, or somehow managing a return flight when our usual airline went on strike with 2 layovers and 3 different airlines in ’79. And so many others. But, I'm sure you're just grinning and saying, "Silly Daddy, I'm in Heaven. The stuff here is more amazing than anything there." And, I know that factually. It's just that sometimes, at tiems like this, there is a part of me that wishes I could build sand castles with you, or other fun stuff. But, it's great to know where you are it's so much mroe amazing - and it's where I'll be someday, too.

Till that time, God has given me the imagination to dream, and the satisfaction of knowing I can help others know they'll be there someday, too. And the ability to imagine, just a little, tat I've shared fun stuff like that with you.

Till we meet in that place where there will be no more sorrow, or parting, or anything bad.

Love,

Daddy

Say "hi" to Uncle Rick

Sweetheart,

A few weeks ago, I told one of my closest friends, Rick, about how I planned to adopt and prayed hard about it, then God gave me peace that he had you waiting for me in Heaven, an answer like hannah got with Samuel; in fact, I started to realize what happened when my prayers for a child turned to God putting in my heart about praying like Hannah did to dedicate Samuel to the Lord.

By now you've met Rick. I'll reminisce about him some here, but - partly for a testimony to those around the world who may read this after losing someone - I'll share what happened first. He fought cancer for several years and beat it twice before this third one came back with a vengeance - in fact, he was only given about a 30% chance of surviving the second one in his liver, but with surgery he did without even needing chemo (would have started it but had an infection for a long while so they couldn't.) He was cancer free after that.

Of course, I say "Uncle Rick" because I like that way of referring to close friends of the parents as aunts and uncles, though ours was okay with just calling the friends by name. It's especially meaningful for one so close because I did love him like a brother. We'd only known each other for 23 years, so only since I was a young adult, but it was still so special - his whole family was always so nice, and he was such a kind, caring considerate person.

Most importantly, of course, he knew Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, which is why he's up there, he'd called on Jesus to forgive him and save him from his sins, believing that He'd taken the punishment for his sins when He died on the cross and rose from the dead. Whereas Jesus took that punishment for you and since you never got the chance to live, instead of being adopted by me you went straight to heaven.

We'll spend time reminiscing about all the fun we had with Rick when we all get together. there were so many great things, so much laughter and good times that helps remind us of him. But, nothing compares to the joy up there.

It's hard to say whether we remember good times the same way we do here on Earth up there - and i know it doesn't pay to ask you becasue I'll get that little voice in my mind saying, "It's a surprise, Daddy." I did kid him that he's got a dog named Nitschke after the Packers' linebacker and one day soon he's going to have the real Ray Nitschke greeting him since the guy was saved and rick was such a huge Packer fan. I wonder

It's neat how I don't have to say I wish you could have met him, because now you have. Friendship is so important. The right kinds of friends, that is. A friend that is closer than a brother, one you can rely on for anything and who will always care about you. And, that's what Rick was. Rick was the nicest guy, I felt comfortable with him right away when I started going to Canton Baptist Temple. He accepted and shared my goofy sense of humor, and we always had a great time together. It was so easy to laugh about such silly things. He understood how to be a Godly person and have fun as a Christian.

Of course, Rick was dedicated to the Lord. He put God first in his life. However, he wasn't afraid to have fun with his love of the Packers, and no he had clearly dedicated that love to God and how the Lord richly blessed him through his love for the Packers. The visit of Hall of Famer Dave Robinson in Rick's last week's was just one of the many ways God used the Packers to bless him. And, of course, God used him to bless many other people too. It's amazing how many people considered him their best friend.

Rick knew that the main purpose of life was to show God's grace, but while he shared the gospel he generally just used his life to display God's grace. He was always looking out for others, always caring about other people and being friendly. There were a couple times a guy got saved who had been in our singles class after months of going there and he remarked that we have lost focus because we had gotten too interested in the phone and not as much and making sure the people spiritual lives were okay. He was so excited to see people falling the word and knowing where they would spend eternity. One time when he and I went to Green Bay in 2000 I had prayed beforehand that someone get saved on our trip and lo and behold, we gave a tract to someone where we were eating lunch there and the fellow came over 15 minutes later and thank the saying he had gotten saved. We were both so excited, and now Rick knows just what became of that man, named Josiah.

As noted, of course, most of our memories of him revolve around the fun times we had together because he knew the wonderful good clean fun that Christians could have. He reveled in it, Whether joking about tickling oneself like he did with me or telling really wild stories of things that really happened in this family, or just making jokes, he was full of life. It's so wonderful to know that he is again full of life up there, and probably having so much fun playing with you and getting to know you.

I could share a multitude of funny stories. Depending on how much one remembers of those good times, he probably has already shared many of them. The time he went to a gas station dressed as a revolutionary war soldier, for instance, because he was going to a party, and someone look at him and said that guy goes way back. Or the time he went to Green Bay and he and his friends were decked out in Packers stuff and Ohio State Buckeyes stuff and someone in the crowd said that just isn't right. And so many other things. 

Of course, what matters is that he is completely whole. He is healthy and full of life with no pain, no suffering, it is so wonderful to know. Just like you are safe from all those problems.

The even more wonderful thing, i know is that when i do finally see you, to be absent from the body is the be present with the Lord.

However, I remain down here becasue there are so many who aren't saved. Rick knew that. he wanted the Gospel preached at his funeral so people would hear, and it was, and 12 people (at least) raised their hands to indicate they'd prayed to receive Christ as Saviour, from what the minister said. That is so exciting! He also had reason to celebrate because I left his calling hours early and in my ministry class got to lead a girl to Christ. I pray he'll be able to celebrate others getting saved who are without Jesus, just as I know you will, and I hope all reading this will pray for those same people.

Until we have great great, joyous celebration together with all our friends and loved ones who know the Lord, I'm glad you're in a place that doesn't have anything bad in it, where there's no pain, no suffering, no sorrow, no sin. As I explained that that girl that night, it's impossible to sin up there, but since we all have sin in us, we need a SAviour. Thankfully, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for our sins and rose from the dead, and all one has to do is call on Him to forgive and save them and turn from their sin and make them new inside. A person can do that reading this right now, in fact. Just like that fellow who read that tract.

Enjoy it up there. I'll keep serving the Lord down here because I'm encouraged by you and great examples like Rick, but the real reason is because of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. I owe it all to Him, and I do it all for Him. Sure, i fail sometimes, because I'm human, but I have His promise of forgiveness and salvation. Just like you.

till we meet.

Love, Daddy.

On Gifts I'd Have Liked To Have Given

Hi, Sweetheart,

I was just thinking, what would you like on television? Do you have any shows you actually watch up there?

Yeah, I know you'd say, "Silly Daddy, I'm in Heaven, why would I watch TV?" I was just pondering stuff that I've been interested in and it makes me think.

We love because we want to, just as I wanted to adopt you. After praying for a little one for quite a while God seemed to say in my heart that He had one for me but that He wanted to see if I would dedicate you the same way Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord. And, I said I would.

I know God has a bigger plan, a perfect one, it is one that made me sad but I know I will see you someday where we will celebrate for ever. In the meantime, I think about how you would have enjoyed talk of the "Full House" book Universe vs. TV Universe - and now we have NetU. There is so much fun with the chronology some online friends and I did, which any readers of this can see here under "the show". There was so much fun fanfiction with stories I've done and that a good online friend did which I helped with.; his stuff is also there under fanfiction, under Paul Austin.

Anyway, "Full House" is such a wonderful, sweet family show, just perfect for my tastes in how they always show such unconditional love. With the Chronology in a way it is as if I did raise you because of how much I visualize everything I say and do and even my writing. I know it's not the same, but maybe with my handicaps it's more of the same than it would be for some people. (And, I much prefer the Book Universe with D.J. as a proactive mother figure and much more giving.)

It would have been hard since I never had the money, but I got some "Full House" books that I did because I enjoyed putting together the chronology and the Lord used Full House for other things, too. Because of it, a fellow half a world away saw an example of Jesus Christ that I tried to be where he wouldn't have otherwise. You'll get to meet him, too, as while because of various things it's hard for him to come out and say it, the Lord has given me peace through a few things that he has trusted Jesus Christ to save him from his sin, which anyone can do, we're each only a single, sincere prayer of repentance to Jesus away from eternal life, as shown here.

I would have had such fun telling you how God uses many little things in our lives to help us. I don't know if you'd have been like book Stephanie or who you would have been like. (I know you are very unique, but sometimes those templates help me to understand things and people a little.) But, then again, maybe you wouldn't have even enjoyed Full House as much as you would have playing baseball or something. I don't know if we'd have written things together, though I like to think that we'd have shared in some of what I've written. (TV Unvierse and Book Unvierse stories of mine are also up on that site I linked to earlier.)

I know this, though. I love you, even though we have not yet met. Those gifts that I would have given you have gone to help someone else now; i sent them a couple weeks ago. But, who knows, maybe God will have someone for me someday. Or, maybe I will just wait until I am caught up in the air and we celebrate as we gather around the throne. Either way, even if I had the money and I suddenly adopted 10 kids, you will always be special to me. Because I know God has used you, too, in ways that are hard to describe, and in some ways specific to the types of challenges I was born with.

I still have my old toys and books and all the stuffed animals that I had when I was little, and I have given them to the Lord as well to use as He knows is best. I trust God because I know He is perfect love, wisdom, etc.. If you couldn't be with me, I know you are with the best sitter possible, and while I still miss you I am so glad you don't have to deal with the turmoil of this world. I'm so glad that God loved me enough many years ago to save me from my sins when I called on Him by faith to save and forgive me.

It is because of Jesus I know that I'm going to Heaven. And, because of Jesus I know you are safe and I will see you someday.

So, whether or not you'd havebeen a fan of "Full House," whether or not we'd have written stuff together, no matter what, I know that now, you probably look down on me with all these silly little things and laugh, becasue nothing in this world compares to the glory which is to come. As the Bible says, eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has entered into the heart of man the wonders that await us.

So, since it's all a bit silly to you anyway, I'm sure you understand your silly Daddy following some of this stuff on Twitter and just presuming that maybe you could have been a huge fan. that maybe you'd hve kept the books and enjoyed them, or watched the show and had fun little discussions, on your level at whatever age you were, about how the books are different and how on TV D.J.had to step in realistically and reacted but was proactive in books, and so on. I giggle as I picture you going to school - well, church, the way things are now you'd be homeschooled - and telling all your little friends how we only see 1/33th of a person's lives in a sitcom and stuff's not over in 30 minutes like other people say, and all those other little things.

Yes, I know you understand. Because your silly Daddy has other little nuances that are just part of what makes each of us unique, and little failings that are part of what shows we each need Christ's redemptive work on the cross to save us. And, tough I can't reach out and hug you tonight, I know you see in my heart how much I care, and somehow the Lord gives me peace that feels like a great big hug Himself. Because, that's what I always said when i was little, that Heaven was like a great big hug that lasts forever.

I'm glad you can enjoy that now, not becasue of anything but that Jesus Christ died for your sins, too, and rose from the dead,a nd since you died before you could understand that need to trust Him by faith and call on Him to save you, He saved you and you are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God.

Till we meet and enjoy that blessedness together.

Love,
Daddy

On celebrities, fictional worlds, and role models for kids

Hi, Sweetheart,

I talked before about various sports. I wonder if you keep track of Hollywood's stars. I think of all the fun and exciting things that happen and I figure you would have enjoyed it here on Earth. Who knows; perhaps you'd have been one of the few who has enough talent to make it in local commercials if not out there.

Of course even if you weren't, you're still a superstar in my eyes. Silly grammar, I know. Still, it fits since you died before I ever knew you, let alone before I could have begun to adopt you. The Lord led me to step out in faith and look into adoption despite my handicaps and my financial problems, and then led me to pray like Hannah did with Samuel dedicating him to the Lord and then letting him serve in the temple and live there. And now, I know I have a precious child in Heaven - you - waiting for me.

It's funny. I knew about a few, but I never followed celebrities before the internet - especially not before the last few years with YouTube and Twitter and the like. I was always more interested in the imaginary worlds created in which they performed their roles. So, for instance, I cared much more about the universe of a sitcom like Full House or the Mary Tyler Moore Show and what resulted from it than any of the performers. I could tell from things like changing clothing that TV shows took place over several days or more, not 30 minutes. I got involved considering what might happen between scenes and before and after episodes.

Only with the advent of Twitter have I really begun to follow Hollywood people. Even there, I am much more apt to follow young talent  such as from YouTube. One celebrity I enjoy the most is a happy, fun-loving singer and actress named Kacey Fifield. I started following her because of the Kids React series. Were you here with me, I can imagine she would be one of your favorites, too.

I grew up after the era of Shirley Temple, but with only three TV networks and no internet there were still very few opportunities for performers. Now, however, there is much more opportunity for someone to really get noticed. And, I pray for performers like Kacey, that she and others know the Lord Jesus Christ personally as Saviour and that they stay away from the many temptations in Hollywood. I pray they continue to use the great talents they have been given to glorify God and how they act and how they treat others. In other words, they make the world a better place like Jesus says in Matthew 5 about letting your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in Heaven.

So, even there, I like to give more than I take; I prefer to encourage and build people up, not just to let others entertain me. Which is a huge reason why I'm a fan of Kacey. She likes encouraging others, too, and is always so kind and considerate, from what I've read. The way I know I'd have helped you to be.

It's funny. I just realized this. Through my writing, my reading, my imagination, etc., as well as times with family and serving the Lord, God has given me the chance to do as much as ll I would have as a parent, just not in chronological order. Perhaps the Lord led me to get introduced to Kids React in part because He not only wanted to give me more to pray for and encourage, but also because it would be another little part of that.collage of non-chronological experiences where I can say I had a part like a parent. A few times I even disciplined one really ornery cousin or defiant niece, each time in a kind, caring way that showed I love them. So, of course, following young talent has a twofold purpose - two watch someone else grow and become successful but more importantly a great example of Jesus Christ, but also to imagine how you might enjoy following such stars. After all, I've seen my cousins, nieces, and nephews do all those great things and been excited to have watched that.

A fellow church member encouraged his boy that he'd "chosen a good one" when I informed them his son's favorite player, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, is a Christian. And, in the same way, I feel like I could encourage you that you've chosen good ones by the ones I see who are great examples. But, that's just me "being a silly Daddy", as you would say, because you are in Heaven with the greatest of all, Jesus Christ.

Still, it is lots of fun 2 imagine you getting the same joy I do out of things. Some of them may be silly, just like I am sometimes, but it is still great fun.

I don't need to think of such things all the time, in fact I don't need to very often comma but it is still fun when I do. Because it helps me to know that God has given me wonderful gifts, some of which I experience here on Earth in my own life, some I simply enjoy following and celebrating with them, anthem - many in fact - I will enjoy when I get to Heaven.

And, I know I'll be in Heaven because I have put my trust in Jesus Christ to save me from my sins, calling on him by faith to forgive me and make me new inside. And then, we will meet and celebrate together.

Till we meet.

Love, Daddy

WElcoming loved ones and reunions

Hi, Sweetheart,

By the time this is posted, you'll have greeted a 95-year-old great uncle. As I write, he has rallied some, perhaps waiting for his daughter to make it to see him once more.

God had other plans, though, because I finished that paragraph and by the time I got back here he had gone home to heaven. And, there's a little something fun that happened that, well, you and I can share together. See, my uncle said he would chip in on the flowers and instead of just his name he wanted his last name and the family, my mom remarried as you know and so their family name is different too, so I said just put my last name and the word family too. So, in that little way, it is sort of like you were in on this too.

That wasn't the original reason I started this post. But, it's kind of cool how that worked out.

 Back to the original intent, I read somewhere in a search looking for what people experience near death of a family that had this little girl who had been there to welcome quite a few of the members and be with them as they entered the spiritual realm fully.(As opposed to partly, which is what those who are dying experience their last days.) The family didn't know who she was - I kind of wonder if she was someone from a few hundred years ago who was perhaps a stillborn child or something. It's hard to say.

I jsut know reunions are so much fun, and he is there celebrating with his loved ones who went before him who knew Christ as Saviour - and, of course, those who die before the age when they can understand the need for it.

And yet, God gives us abundant life here, too, as the linked site discusses along with presenting that plan of salvation. that abundance isn't always physical blessings. This man was a child of the Great Depression, fought in World War Two and saw much bloodshed there, and lost a child himself at a young age. And yet, he had an abundant lie because he knew there was something better, and more important, Jesus Christ wasn't just his 'Savioiur. This great uncle had realized he was a sinner, believed that Jesus Christ - God in flesh - had died to take the punishment for his sins and risen from the dead, and called on Jesus to save him and get him to Heaven. However, Jesus was much more to him. He was a comforter, guide, helper, friend, and so much more.

We are all called to be servants, to help others. that girl, somehow was appointed by God, perhaps as a prayer of hers after a wonderful if very short life, to helping to comfort others. But God ultimately is the one who uses her, just as He has done a few little things like what I mentioned to help me know you're there waiting for me someday. (I don't even know where that thread or even message board is now, but you can tell that girl i said "hello." :-) )

God is personal. He wants a relationship with each of us. He desires to help us through all the problems of life. He is just waiting for us to come to Him and to trust Him to help us instead of trying to do it all ourselves. Then, He will give us all we need. Not all that we want, but all we need when we need it. So, we we don't have it, we must not need it.

Even with something as final in this life as death, however, God gives us grace and strength to get through it in a wonderful way. Soemtimes with little reminders of that loved one, sometimes in other ways.

So, when you see that fellow up there, and you show him around, who knows. he might provide you with some memories of how God helped him with the loss of his son decads ago. I'm curious to know if he knows who you are right away; I think I did mention in a Christmas card or birthday card a couple years ago about my faith that I had a child in haven.

But, I know one thing for sure. I can jsut imagine your sweet voice insisting whenever I wonder that, "It's a surprise, Daddy." Just another of those little things God gives me - easier by far becasue of my being sucha  visual thinker.

So, have a wonderful time greeting him and everyone else in my family, and I look forward to that great reunion we who know Christ as Saviour will have someday. Including with all those who - because I post this - have read and have been comforted and perhaps even trusted Christ as Sviour because of this. I'm sure there will be some. And, because of that, you - like that other girl - are blessing people even though you never had a chance to live yourself on this earth.

Till we meet in Heaven.

Love,

Daddy