Last week Max’s Great-Grandpa, Ben’s Grandpa, went to be with Jesus.  He loved his God, his family, and his country fiercely and well.  You will be missed, Grandpa.  Thank you for your example of hard work, generosity, honesty, commitment, and integrity.  

It was so hard give Max such sad news, but somehow, explaining this to a three-year-old was helpful to remember the hope we have in Jesus.  Max clung to the hopeful part of the story – that we will see Grandpa again in heaven, and that there are no tears in heaven.  We serve a God of hope and joy, and we will take comfort there.

Isaiah prophesies: “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces…” Is 25:8

And John gives us a glimpse of the new Jerusalem: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  Rev 21:4