In Loving Memory

My mom called me here in Kentucky yesterday to say that my Grandpa Allen (my dad's dad) had passed away. It was very hard to accept. I knew he had been in failing health (bad knees, taking oxygen for the last several months, walking slow, etc.), but then on Christmas day, we found out he had had a heart attack the day before. My grandparents live in Florida and I had not seen them since they had driven up to see Philip when he was 7 months old. We were hoping Grandpa's stay in the hospital after the heart attack would make him stronger, but Mom said that on Tuesday, he was walking to the bathroom with a nurse and just collapsed on the floor. Probably another heart attack. I loved my grandfather as he was a wonderful, loving, playful man. The hardest part of losing him is that I do not believe that he knew Jesus as Savior and Lord. I pray and am trying to give it to God that possibly in his last hours, he may have spoken with a hospital chaplain and received salvation. It would be the biggest of blessings to find out that to be true.

However, as that might not be the case, I can only tell myself that we tried sharing Jesus with him and know that each person is responsible for his own decision to accept Christ or not. This will make me more bold in explaining the wonderful and almost too-good-to-be-true plan of forgiveness and eternal life. God knew we would all perish and deserve hell on our own and so He sent His Son, Jesus, as a babe to earth to live, die and live again. We must only say, "Yes, Lord, I believe" and we are eternally set free to one day live with Him in Heaven after we leave earth. It's better than any fairy tale and yet absolutely true.

Please, don't let your days on earth run out before believing in Christ as your PERSONAL Lord and Savior. If it just doesn't make sense to you, visit this website: www.needhim.org.

One last thing. Please pray for my Grandma Allen and our family (especially my dad, his sisters Gail, Maureen, Mary Ann and Margaret and brother George). My Grandpa's memorial service will be on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 11:00am in Florida.