As we were coming off the heals of a great August having our first event with Valley Community Church, closing on our house, and enjoying a vacation on the lovely beaches of Hilton Head Island, life was beautiful.
Life is also unpredictable.
Our house slipped through the cracks because of an appraisal that the seller would not agree to, after a three month roller-coaster ride with three different closing dates.
Trying to plant a church when you live a 100 miles away is a challenge. Much like any long distance relationship, you may have a connection but its presence that's matters more than warm fuzzies.
The beginning of Autumn also brought the tension of life and death.
My wife's Grandmother, Nana as we like to call her, had a four year battle of lung complications and Alzheimer's come to end as she is now at peace with her Lord. She was an amazing woman who was feisty as she was fashionable, kinda reminds me of someone else I know.
Nana loved her God, her husband, and family with a tenderness and tenacity that made me instantly fall in love with her as I was falling in love with her granddaughter.
I'll never forget those nervous moments when Marisa and I first started dating as I would meet the family, Nana would remind me over and over again that it was God's providence that brought us together. She always had a way of knowing what God was up to.
The day of her funeral was bittersweet but it was a touching tribute.
It's hard to lose the ones you love, it's even harder to see them suffer.
My father came up that day from Philly to pay his respects, and little did I know, that soon after death would brush by his door.
He had a ruptured Aorta and my mother told me that he would be going into surgery for seven hours. I prayed with her over the phone and rushed to UPenn Hospital with my family but I didn't really know what to pray or how to pray I didn't even know what a ruptured Aorta was.
Later I came to learn that it was same heart condition that took the life of the great actor and comedian John Ritter.
I wasn't ready to lose my dad.
Thirty years is not long enough to say goodbye.
More than wanting my Dad to see the Philadelphia Eagles win a Superbowl,
I wanted my son to remember this man who is my role-model and friend.
I wanted my son to know his grandfather the way my wife knew her grandmother.
My father has recovered well despite the epic collapse of the much hyped Phillies and Eagles.
My wife and I close on our first house at the end of the month (which is bigger and less money).
My church plant adventures are picking up momentum after an encouraging VCC Vision Day.
September was a month to forget but one I will always remember.
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| Visiting my Dad in ICU with the family. |
A video celebrating the life and love of Nana.
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