I Missed My Dad Today

I missed my Dad today(well actually it was last Monday-but I didn't want to change the title).

I was out at LCCC helping with the Thunderbirds air show that was going to be in two days. All the volunteers got to watch them practice. It was awesome.

You see, my Dad LOVED anything to do with planes/flight. He would have loved this show. He was a pilot. He even had his own plane for a while. I barely remember him taking me on a flight when I was very young. Soon after that , he and his business partners decided to sell their plane. But, he still loved it. And the seed of interest was planted in me also.

I've often said my Dad would have loved living here. There seems to always be something flying around my house. I love watching the military choppers fly over. Dad would have too.

Just wanted to share that.

Grant

Seasons PT. 3

So....let's try to wrap this up.

You see just over three years ago God called me and Terri Lynn to move to Cheyenne from Gillette to help Jeff plant Element Church.

Sometime the next month we shared the news with Terri Lynn's parents, and with Ben and Jill(Terri Lynn's sister and bro-in law--who were also living in Gillette at the time).

So, here are Jan and Terry living in Alabama. And there two daughters and son-in-laws are both going to sell their homes in Gillette and move their families down to Cheyenne to do this Element Church thing with absolutely no guarantees on this end. They were excited for us. They may not have totally understood all of it--not sure we did . But they were happy for us. So immediately they started to follow Element Church from afar. Janice always read our blogs and listened the Jeff's sermons. Sometimes it seemed she knew more what was going on then we did! She was one of our biggest fans.

Here's the kicker. You see ---in my humble opinion--when Janice started to follow Element Church down in Alabama, she did NOT have a relationship with Jesus. She had professed faith in Jesus as a young child. Even raised her own kids in church. But for the last twenty years had done very little that would tell others that she knew anything about this man named Jesus.
That all changed when we launched Element Church. Soon she was discussing the sermons with my wife. Then came that day in the car I wrote about earlier. Thats when I knew that she had come back "home" to Jesus. What a glorious day!

Shortly after Janice died and went home to be with the LORD, I was talking to my friend Dereck. He kind of knew most of the story. I was talking to him about the "coincidence" of my article about "seasons" hitting the paper the same day Jan died. He said " Ya creepy--In a good way". He then said "Well, Element Church just sent their first person to Heaven!" "What do you mean?" I asked. He said "Well if I'm understanding this right, the fact that you were willing to risk and come down here and plant this church is a big reason that Jan came back home to Jesus". "Ya I guess" I said. "Well" he said " the way I see it is that your mother-in-law is in Heaven today because of you." "And I think that is THE best gift a son-in-law could ever give their mother-in-law!" " And because of that, Element has just sent their first person to Heaven". Wow! Obviously I didn't know what to say. Still don't. Thanks DMan.

Like Jeff says--"for the one". We would do all of this over again for one person coming "HOME".

Grant

"Seasons" Part 2

Ok, so there is a bigger reason why I shared on this blog my article that I submitted to the paper back in January. It definitely was NOT to brag about my writing skills.

The same day that the article was in the paper was THE same day that my wife's Mom passed away. I had know for months that the article was going to be published on Janurary 31st. I had also known for months that Janice(mother-in-law) was battling lung cancer and, though there was hope for a full recovery or a miraculous healing, she was very ill. And literally that week had gone down hill very fast.

So that Saturday morning I read my article in the paper and shortly afterwards got the call from my wife Terri Lynn that her Mom had just died. Talk about a new season in life! Was it just a coincidence that they occurred on the same day literally moments apart? I think not.

Yes, my wife lost her Mom. My boys had lost their Grandma. And my father-in-law, Terry, had just lost his wife. And , YES , there would be tears and sadness. But there would also be some "celebration of life" laughter and some tears of joy.

You see, Janice had just recently come back to the LORD! Thusly, the tears of JOY! Jan was in Heaven with Jesus! How can you not celebrate that? Yes she is missed. Yes there are still some sad tears from time to time. And, yes, even though she is in a "better place" we are not. But there are also a lot of tears of joy when we think about how our long-suffering and amazingly-loving and merciful GOD got a hold of Jan's heart. God waited many years for Jan to come back "home" and then He took her HOME.

I will NEVER forget the time that I had to pull the car over to the side of the road for fear of wrecking because of the tears in my eyes. Terri Lynn wouldn't have been able to drive either because of all the tears in her eyes. You see, TL and I were on the phone with her Mom and she was sharing Bible verses with US. What?!?! Janice was preaching God's Word boldly! Wow! Talk about an answer to prayer. That is THE moment when I knew she had truly come back to Jesus after many years of being away. It was awesome.

And , yes, those of us that knew and loved Jan are in a different "season" now. And ,yes, there are still some occasional tears. But it will be OK.