Month: October 2006

  • Getting Ready to Move!

    It looks like we are moving! We accepted an offer on our home and put in another offer on another about 20 miles north of us. I guess something can always fall through at the last minute but at the present moment everything looks just fine and we’re packing. We’ll be 20 minutes closer to my dear Mother so I’ll be able to visit more often. God’s timing always amazes me. When we put our home up for sale we didn’t know that my Daddy was so near to leaving this earth. We had planned on moving just 5 miles from our current home so we could stay close to our beloved church. The home that the Lord seems to have found for us is half way between our church and my mother. The location seems just perfect to me!


    So, I’m packing up my earthly belongings AGAIN! We just moved here a few years ago. I downsized my belongings at that time but not nearly enough so I’m at it again! Too much stuff to fuss over! I’m tired of carting it around! My days are numbered and I want my time spent in serving God and others. My house is a tool that can be used in that endeavor but I must be careful that I don’t end up serving my HOME, instead of others.


    I found a short writing about ‘Getting Ready to Move’ this morning while reading “In the Arena” by Isobel Kuhn. I thought how appropriate the timing since I am not only moving my physical belongings but I’m also thinking so much more about heaven these days now that my Daddy is living there.


    GETTING READY TO MOVE!


    The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.


    At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the old house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.


    It is strange how quickly one’s interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One (2 Cor. 12:2) who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that is is beautiful beyond description – language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice.


    Another (Jesus) whose love to me has been proved by the greatest possible test is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.


    Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King of the other side.


    Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of  my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight.


    Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is “I am getting ready to move. ”

  • In Honor of my Father

    My Daddy went home to be with His Lord and Savior on October 12, 2006. Daddy had been diagnosed with acute anemia several years ago. This past June the anemia began to progress and by October he was diagnosed as having leukemia. Daddy didn’t want to spend his last days in the hospital so Mama brought him home where she, my sister and I cared for him until his last day. I’m thankful that he was able to spend his last days in his own home. He was at peace and in no pain when he breathed his last breath surrounded by those who loved him the most. What a blessing and honor to give him such a gift!


    We are having a “Celebration of Life” for Daddy this next Tuesday. I was asked by my Mother to write a tribute. I’d like to share it in honor of my father.


    This picture is of Daddy and my mother with one of their 9 great-grandchildren.


    Daddy 006


    Written by Georgene Girouard (George’s oldest daughter)


    I’ve always heard it said that our actions speak louder than our words. My Daddy wasn’t a man of many words but his actions spoke volumes and the book that he wrote with his life is filled with good and precious memories. I learned so much by observing the way he lived and I’m sure those lessons will continue to teach me the rest of my life. Many people leave behind a legacy of actions that speak to their shame but in my heart I have a treasure chest full of loving memories that bring me comfort each time I think of my father and our life together.


    There are many admirable words that would describe my father but if I had to pick just one I would choose the word FAITHFUL. Daddy was a FAITHFUL man in all of his relationships. He was a faithful husband, father, son in law, employer, church member and on the list would go.


    I watched my father and mother’s marriage relationship over the years and always marveled at Daddy’s consistent faithfulness to my mother. He remained faithful to her in big ways but also in a million little small ways. He faithfully showed her honor in public by always opening and closing her door for 53 years and never raising his voice to her. He showed his faithfulness by helping her with the chores in the home. Daddy showed his faithfulness by supporting her talents and hobbies. He not only supported them financially but became involved in whatever she did. When she took up ceramics he came right along with her and learned to use the kiln and help with the production. When she began playing piano in church he came to the practices and learned to run the soundboard. He would always walk up to the platform and take her hand and help her walk down the steps while carrying her heavy book. Whatever Mama wanted to do, Daddy supported. They were inseparable, especially after retirement. You rarely saw Mama that Daddy wasn’t along, too. I’ve learned so many good lessons from my parents and the way they related to each other in their marriage. But, the most important one has to do with their faithfulness to each other to do all they could to make the other persons life happy.


    How blessed I am, as his daughter, to be able to say that I have not even one bad memory of the 49 years I knew him. Imagine that!! I’m sincerely telling the truth when I say I can never remember a time when he raised his voice, said an unkind word, treated me unfairly, put his own needs above my own or disciplined me harshly. My memory is flooded with only kind and good thoughts about my childhood and adult years with him. How many daughters can say such a thing? The older I grew I came to realize what a gift the Lord had given me in such a kind and caring father.


    My greatest and most treasured memory is the day he accepted Christ as His Savior in 1994. He was helping me with the accounting in our business. I had spoken to him about his need for Christ several times before over the past 10 years but he was not ready. But, that day would be different. As I spoke to him about God sending His only Son to die for his sins on the cross he began to weep. Even though Daddy was a ‘good’ man, by the world’s standards, he knew that he was born a sinner and needed a Savior. He asked God to forgive him of his sins and confessed Christ as Lord. From that day forward he never went back on his promise to follow Christ. Just as he had been faithful in his marriage and family relationships, he remained faithful to Christ till the end of his life.


    When Daddy was so sick in bed the last two weeks I would pray with him and he would thank the Lord for His Son Jesus. One night I sang the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, softly in his ear. He was so weak by then that he could barely say a word but when I finished he whispered softly … ‘wonderful song’. I think more than anything I will miss hearing him say to me, “Your mama and I are praying for you”. Those words meant more to me than anything in this world.


    I grieve for the loss of my father’s presence here on earth but I have hope because I know our time of being separated won’t be forever. I WILL see him again and I know it won’t be long. The thought of heaven has become even more precious these past few weeks because I know that my Daddy will be waiting for me there. As I was praying for him those last few nights I whispered in his ear… “Daddy, please promise to meet me by the river!” …………Oh, I can’t wait for that day!

  •  I’m a bit late responding to the horrific attack on the Amish school children. I really hadn’t even planned to write  anything. Suffering is so personal and private. I couldn’t bear to read all the details. I knew just enough to be in continual  prayer for the loved ones left behind.


    Yesterday a dear friend quoted a remark that one of the Amish said in response to the deaths of the children which captivated my attention.


    “A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors.”


    This man’s statement echoes a Scripture that I found many years ago. I’ve reminded myself of this Scripture many times over the years when I’ve had loved ones that have ‘fallen asleep’ in the Lord.  


    Eccl 7:2 – Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.


    I AM ‘taking it to heart’ this week. I’m reminding myself of  the brevity of life and realizing that our life truly is just a vapor… a mist… .. here today and gone tomorrow. James 4:14. I realize this so much more the older I get.  It’s hard to fathom that I’m nearly 50 years old. Where have the years gone? I have less years ahead of me than I do behind me. I must be determined to live each day for the glory of God.


    I’ve been purposely setting my thoughts and meditations on  the joy of heaven and the resurrection from the dead this week. I was reminded of Martha’s grief over the loss of her brother Lazarus and the disappointment she must have felt when Jesus did not come to heal her brother before he died.  They knew that Jesus could heal but by delaying His return He would now reveal that He was Christ, the resurrection and eternal life. Death is our test. Do we believe that those who trust in Christ will live forever?  Do we believe that if our loved ones trusted in Christ as their Savior that we WILL see them again? There is hope! We don’t grieve as those who have no hope!


    John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”


    Those who have trusted Christ as their Savior have been promised that they will never, never die!


    Oh, Lord Jesus, we pray that you will come quickly! We long for heaven where you will wipe away every tear!