Lessons I'll Never Forget

This week I attended my first funeral, for a man very dear to my heart. Ali’s grandpa was always like a grandfather to me, taking me in as his own granddaughter. Though it was very sad, it was a reminder of the amazing life he lead and how he left this world a changed place. One of the lessons in the service talked about how he worked hard, not only in his career but to better God’s kingdom. It’s so incredible to know what difference that hard work can make in the people around you. The pastor said that if you didn’t know his desire for your life was to know Christ our Savior, then we didn’t really know him. What a noble personal mission to have! He was an incredible example of how to lead a loving, Christ-centered life in everything he did. He had the wonderful gift of loving people exactly where they were. I think that’s so difficult to do sometimes, but he exemplified unconditional love. As the pastor said, he really knew how to keep the main things the main thing, instead of ‘majoring in all the minors.’ Just spending time with this man reminded one that so much of what we spend our time worrying about just does not matter in the big scheme of things. As stated in Revelations, all earthly things vanish, and what will really matter in the end are the relationships we form. One of my favorite quotes states that people will never remember what you did, people will remember the way you made them feel. This is just an incredible reminder that I have a job to do while I’m here, one that will hopefully come as easy as it did to J Ray. My job is to just be a living example of love and grace to those I encounter. I will never forget the joy he shared, the way he loved, and the closeness he shared with everyone he met. Love you Gingdaddy!