Family Moments

March 16, 2009

I love my family! This evening I watched the tape of my grandpa, Mervin Sutter’s funeral. I guess that in some ways it made his death more real though hearing everyone share stories about him during the meal following the memorial service, seemed more like a family reunion.

The hymns, aptly chosen, reflected what I know was my grandpa’s joy at leaving this earth and going to be with Jesus. He had peace like a river both in the storms in life and in his passing and he knew that it is so sweet to trust in Jesus. One of the stories that most impacted me which I first heard this last month took place while my grandpa owned a chicken farm. In those early years he and my grandma struggled to pay the bills, but he was always determined to pay off his debts. One year as Christmas approached he and grandma went to collect payment from a man who owed them money. When they arrived and saw the poverty of the man’s family, they decided that the money was not really so important. My grandpa sent my grandma shopping for all of the “fixings” for a Christmas dinner while he went and brought gifts. Back at home the family wrapped the gifts and then they carried the food and gifts to the man’s house so that they would have a Christmas dinner and toys that year.

When I hear that kind of story, I know that I want my life to “carry the baton” that my grandpa left behind, as my one aunt put it in her reflections of her dad. His generosity, servant’s heart, and love for people and for Jesus made him an example of Christ.

And speaking of family and passing on the baton, I am very excited that I will finally get to be an aunt this year as my sister Shana is expecting her first child in August.