A time to be born, and a time to die

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 

a time to be born, and a time to die; 

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

a time to kill, and a time to heal; 

a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

a time to weep, and a time to laugh; 

a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

a time to seek, and a time to lose; 

a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

a time to tear, and a time to sew; 

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

a time to love, and a time to hate; 

a time for war, and a time for peace. 

What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil--this is God's gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

The last week of my uncle's journal records his musings on this and other passages.  I don't think there's any way he could have known how soon or sudden his own time to die would be, but I think he was about as prepared for death as a man can be.  His reflections on the passages display his appreciation for the sovereignty of God and the seasons that He has prescribed in our lives, always remembering that,
The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.    ~Romans 8:18b

The last words he wrote echo the promise in Philippians 1:6 and his desire for its fulfillment: for God to complete His work in his (my uncle's) life.

A few short hours later God did complete the work he was doing in my uncle's life, and he took him home.  Those of us who have been left behind for now miss him, but we rejoice in the knowledge that he is now complete and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord he loved and served, and we look to follow his example.

He left behind a wife, three daughters and a daughter-in-law, one son and three sons-in-law, and six adorable grandchildren, as well as a mother and a sister and various other relatives.  It had been a long time since we had all been together, and we enjoyed each other's company, though we wished it had been for a different reason.  

His love of hunting and fishing will be remember by his son and oldest grandson who carried on that tradition together while we were there.  

He will be missed, but we look forward to the day when we shall see him again, when death is swallowed up in victory, and when our time with him then will be far longer and far better than our time with him here on earth.  

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."  "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.     ~1 Corinthians 15:53-57

*The obituary can be read here.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.  ~Genesis 3:19

Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.  ~Mark 1:15

These verses are traditionally used on Ash Wednesday with the dispensing of the ashes.  As the countdown to the cross begins we are encouraged to remember the shortness of life and to repent while there is time.  This year I've been given a very poignant reminder of the reality of these verses.

Leroy Reuben Amunrud

February 9, 1929 - March 9, 2011

Today my Granddad died after a short bout with pneumonia.  I am not sure of his spiritual state, but I think he was saved, and I like to believe that he is now with God, discovering all the secrets of the universe.  Physics and Ranching were his two passions in life.  If you sat down to talk to him for more than a minute or two, you could be fairly sure that one or the other (or both) would come up in the conversation.  He grew up in Eastern Montana and spent much of his adult life working to be able to go back to the ranch.  He worked on some of the first computers and taught math at the college level, but always wanted to go back to ranching.  He had a stroke this August and moved to Bozeman to recover, but he was always talking about gaining his strength so he could go back to the ranch in the spring.  Even as he lay on the hospital bed yesterday, sedated and unable to respond, he seemed to improve a little when we talked about the ranch, the spring, the bulls he would buy.  

He was not young and his health had been declining a bit, but it was still rather sudden.  Especially on this day, it reminds me: someday we will all return to dust and ashes, and there is no predicting that day.  Today, while we still have breath, let us use it to confess our sins and return to our savior.

You will be missed, Granddad.  

Thanksgiving Reflections

A year ago, a week or two before Thanksgiving, my maternal grandmother was in a pretty bad car accident. For a time there we were afraid we might loose her, but she managed to pull through. We spend that Thanksgiving with her at a special physical therapy facility. It probably wasn't the most comfortable Thanksgiving ever (especially for her!) but we were thankful that she was still with us.

This year, a week or two before Thanksgiving my paternal grandmother began failing rapidly. She had a stroke about 8 or 9 years earlier and then another one a little more recently - two close calls where we were grateful that they were not the end. This time her liver was failing and there was no recovery. This time we cannot be thankful that she is still with us after a close call. This time we have something much larger to be thankful for: the fact that she is now home with Jesus. No more pain or disability lingering from her strokes. Now she is able to see her Savior face to face and rejoice in His presence. What a blessing!

I'd better change the subject a little, or I will start bawling here in the Library. Thoughts of heaven always seem to make me cry (in a happy way).

As I think back on the lives of both of my grandmothers (the short part of their lives that I knew them), I am so grateful for both of them. Neither were/are perfect, but both tried/try to walk with Jesus and set an example for their children and grandchildren. I think my grandmothers are one of the main reasons that my parents (and all their siblings) grew up to love and follow the Lord. I also blame them at least partially for the fact that I've grown to like crochet, sewing, and cooking. :)

As I think about my grandmother tonight, I mourn for my family who will miss her. I mourn a little for the great-grandchildren that she wanted so much but will never meet on earth. But more, I look forward to the day when all of us (hopefully including any great-grandchildren that she might someday have) will see each other again in the presence of God. Now that is something to be thankful for!