----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carol Pearson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "DONNA MILLER" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 5:18 PM
Subject: Re: Have You ever?


> Dear Donna,
>
> Thank you so much for sharing these precious memories with us.  There is 
> something very saddening (which usually lasts years and years) about the 
> first much loved person we lose.  My grandfather was that person too. 
> Unfortunately he didn't know Jesus and I have childhood memories of him 
> which God had to heal;  but he loved me dearly and spent much time with 
> me. God even took me for a walk in a field to ask me if it was OK for Him 
> to take Grandfather.
>
> I pray you will be able to continue to enjoy the memories but without 
> feeling the indepth pain that can be there.  God is here to heal that and 
> many of us have experienced such healing on that list.  I believe such 
> experiences can be ones that leave us broken hearted and God deals very 
> specially with those who are broken hearted.  He binds up those wounds in 
> His strong arms of love.
>
> Be encouraged, Donna, He sure is there to help you through all your grief 
> and your sorrow!
>
> --
> Carol
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "DONNA MILLER" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 1:39 PM
> Subject: Have You ever?
>
>
>> Good Morning all,
>>
>> Yesterday was a rough day for me. I don't know about you but every July 
>> first, I mourn the death of my Grandfather. Oh how I miss him.
>>
>> He was the Earthly Father my real father never was and I find myself 
>> missing him every July first on his Birthday and every August 20th when 
>> he passed away in 1970.
>>
>> I see in my mind's eye him sitting in a Rocking chair on the front porch 
>> and telling me Bible stories. He'd tell me about Joshua and how God kept 
>> the daylight till the Israelites won their battle. He told me about Noah 
>> and the ark, and Daniel in the Lions den. He made the Lions sound so real 
>> I could reach out and pet them in my mind.
>>
>> He tolerated my going through the rebellious teenage years and me trying 
>> to explain to him why there was no God. In my mind i knew better, and I 
>> never could figure out why I did that.
>>
>> Through it all, he listened and explained and was patient as only a 
>> father/grandfather could be in such circumstances.
>>
>> In 1970, in July, I said goodbye to him for the last time and went to 
>> Kentucky to get to know my mother.
>>
>> We were to come back in two weeks to get my stuff but the two weeks 
>> turned to months and then years.
>>
>> I told my mother I'd never see him alive again. And sure enough, when the 
>> call came from Dad on August 20th, the grief I felt then and still feel 
>> at times is overwhelming.
>>
>> But through it all, there's a Heavenly Father who helps me through these 
>> times and I'm able to go on and share the knowledge he shared with me and 
>> the jokes and country sayings he tought me still live on today.
>>
>> He'd be 116 years old if he were still alive today.
>>
>> I've never been to his grave since the day of the funeral. He's just not 
>> there to me. He wasn't perfect by any means, but my life was truly 
>> enriched by his humor and wisdom.
>>
>> It's July second and I praise god for bringing me through another July 
>> first. He truly knows how hard it is for me to deal with my first true 
>> understanding of losing someone you love.
>>
>> Thanks for listening. I just had to share.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --Joshua 1:9  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; 
>> be
>> not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee
>> whithersoever thou goest.
>>
>> Donna Miller
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>