Tribute to a Great Man

Well, it's been awhile since the last post. December has been an extremely busy month! Within the first two weeks in December, we took a week's leave to go back to the US for my Grandfather's funeral. It was quite an event. I've never been so proud to be related to somebody like this. My Grandfather's body was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on December 10. It was a great trip home seeing family and friends and telling everybody we could about all that God is doing in Thailand. But the real reason for making such a long long long (did I mention the flight was long?) journey was for my Grandfather. He passed away in September, but because of being buried in Arlington, there was a wait for the service there.

My Grandfather was given so many honors. For starters, they took his casket from the hearse and laid it onto a caisson (horse drawn carriage), pulled by a team of horses. Following behind the caisson was a riderless horse with a pair of boots turned backwards in the stirrups. As they were preparing the procession, a military band played "Amazing Grace". Finally, the procession began, and family and friends walked behind the caisson and the horse. Fittingly enough, the horse that walked behind the casket was a rather spirited horse, who bucked and kicked enough that my mother said, "He would have wanted this kind of horse...". We followed the procession through the mazes of memories of heroes gone by, until we came to my Grandfather's plot. There, the soldiers carried his coffin to the burial site, where a short graveside service was held. They folded up the flag and fired off a twenty-one gun salute. Taps was played, a lonely and somber tune against the stillness of that cold and gray December day in Virginia. Oddly enough, the whole time we were in Maryland, it was basically gray and cloudy. But that day, God saw fit to give us some sun peaking out, just for the ceremony.

It is an honor to follow in the footsteps of this great man. I have many precious and dear memories of sailing the Chesapeake with him, eating at Riverdales, getting yelled at for having my hat backwards, picking at crabs, drinking root bear, eating basically raw meat, talking about the civil war... I really could go on and on. Standing there on that cold day I thought, what will my life amount to when it is my time? What will my life have accomplished when people are standing around my grave? In this I find great hope, it is not for me to determine that. God asks me to follow Him each day, and as I obey and seek His will, He will give me a life of purpose and meaning, found in Him!