What is the measure, the measure of a life?

My sister, Abby, asked this question and it really made me pause for a moment. This is both the week of Thanksgiving and the week of my grandfather's death. It is a week of thankfulness and time to be with family. This Thanksgiving week just happens to include an occasion which is bringing together far more of our family than normal. And though I have grieved my loss and am certain that I will continue to do so, I am thankful for many things. I am thankful for the life and death of my grandfather. He was not my biological grandfather, but was the only one that I ever knew.

He was a quiet, reserved man at home, who boomed out his "Amens" and out of tune hymns at church. He had a strong faith and I'm confident that he's now free of pain and with his great Creator. He was always a bit of a mystery to me, rarely talking, but always willing to let us watch the news with him or follow him around. I always loved him, but grew to cherish him over the past two years, as I spent time with him at the nursing home. I didn't know him as anything other than a kind, quiet, gentle man. I didn't know him when he was young, when he pursued his first wife, went to war, raised his daughter, buried his wife, and then met and married my grandmother. I don't know what kind of husband, father, or friend he was to others. The measure of the man that I knew was laughter, quietness, gentility, patience and a deep and abiding love for God. He was my beloved Pop and I will miss him very much.

My sweet Pop

Went home to be with his Creator today at 4:52pm.
"Precious in the sight of the Lord,
Is the death of His saints."
Psalm 115:15

The one who always loves me. =-)

Georgie and me

Me and my best friend, Tapley

I haven't quite figured out how to post more
than one photo at a time. =-)

The Starbucks Princesses

Houston

My good friend, Sarah, was in town for a few days this past
week. It was so good to be a ble to catch up with her.

What would your answer be?

"Where I found truth, there I found my God, the Truth itself, which since I learnt, I have not forgotten.....Too late I loved Thee, O Thou Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I loved Thee! And behold, Thou wert within, and I abroad, and there I searched for Thee....Thou callest, and shoutest and burstest my deafness. Thou flashest, shonest, and scatterest my blindness. Thou breathest odors, and I draw in breath and pant for Thee. I tasted, and hunger and thirst. Thou touchest me, and I burned for Thy peace." Confessions-St. Augustine

If God came to you and told you(as He did to Solomon) that He would give you the desire of your heart, what would your response be? I know what my current answer is. It was the first thing that came into my head, because it has been on my mind a lot lately. My desire is that I no longer grieve the heart of God. I wonder, though, if this is an impossible desire. We know that Christ was the only perfect human. At first, I thought that maybe I should choose something else. But then I remembered Who had told me(theoretically) that He would give the desire of my heart. And I think that though it is impossible for me to be perfect while on earth, He will be honored if I truly walk with the intent of bringing joy to His heart and not grief.