To a Life Well Lived

My grandfather, Wilber Swanson, went home to be with Jesus today at the age of 90.

He had lived with cancer for seemingly 3 years. He was strong, and he was humble. He lived far longer than the doctors suggested he would, strong until the end. My mom also reports that he died very peacefully.

There is much that I want to say about him, but at this time I could not write it well enough. He loved Jesus, he loved his family, and he was a hard worker. He was a part of the aptly named "greatest generation" that had seen so much happen in the world - he and his generation rightly earned that moniker. He was a good Swede and loved fishing. Probably quite appropriately never saw his beloved Cubbies win the World Series (he is obviously not the only one who can say that). He was much loved by his family, and we will miss him. We are in the conflicting place of being sad that he is gone, but glad on 2 counts: that he is no longer suffering, and of much more significance, he is home with his Lord and Saviour today.

We all literally live a moment away from eternity, but so rarely think about it. Heaven always seems so far away from our lives: far from both our daily routines, and far from all of the evil things that happen in our fallen world. But the reality is that from time to time we need to be reminded that heaven is not far away at all. Today we all have one more reason to look forward to going to heaven.

Grandpa, we love you, we miss you, and we can't wait to see you. We'll see you soon.