Whereas

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4:14‬ ‭KJV‬‬ 

This scripture has echoed in my mind all week.

To the young 85 is so very old. To those in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, not so much.  We blink our eyes and our life is over. 

Looking back over our lives, we often have regrets; wishing we had done such and such better. Every parent reflects on the negative; “I should have” There seems there is always room for improvement even if our children have been the most important thing in our life. Did we spend too little time with them? Did we indulge them too much? Were we good examples for them? Did we equip them with good training so they would be good and successful citizens? Did we help them know that they can make a difference in this dark world?

This week, as we faced the end of my father-in-law’s life there was much time for reflection.

Thursday, I had a few minutes alone with him, I thanked him for being a  good father to my husband. His work ethic and his dedication to family is so apparent in John’s life; he has mirrored his father’s good qualities! I told him he was a good husband; a good father and a good grandfather. 

Was he perfect? No, and neither are we. So today, in my blog, I celebrate his life and give thanks to God for Les Bumbalough. He made a huge difference in my life and the lives of many others. He was greatly loved!

He and I had our differences over the years, but I went to him a couple of years ago and asked him for his forgiveness; for me not honoring him as I should have; according to scripture. 

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus‬ ‭20:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

He accepted my apology and said I had made him cry; that was okay, for I was crying too! 

When we choose to honor our parents, we aren’t honoring their sins, for we all blow it as humans; we all sin. However, we honor them in obedience to the infallible Word Of God. 

 It commands us to forgive, if we ourselves want forgiveness. Matthew 6:14-15 says: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

And I know no one who does not need forgiveness. 

The Bible also says if we give mercy we will receive mercy! Matthew 5:7 says:  “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” ‭

And, oh, how we all need mercy! 

It also says not to judge. 

Everyone knows THAT, however what they have missed is that by the measure we judge - we are judged; held into account by our Heavenly Father. Because of our judgments; we actually end up doing the exact same thing that we judged another for! Judging those who hurt us is how alcoholism, drug addictions, child abuse  and the like, are passed down in families.  

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew‬ ‭7:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

It takes forgiveness and repentance to break the chains which have us bound.

Was my father-in-law perfect? No, but he was ours and we loved him! We are grateful for having him as long as we did. Will we see him again? Only God knows.  It will also depend on how we live our lives! His is over, and we still have a great deal of living to pack into the short time we have left.  We will carry the memory of him with us for our remainder; either to our good or to our detriment.  If we forgive the hurts and repent of our judgments and cherish the good memories - we will do well!

Thank you Father God, for Les Bumbalough and his life. He had a great impact on me and my family. I also thank You LORD for all of our friends who have held us up in prayer during this hard time. And I thank You LORD for Your mercy and Your grace which brought us through and will continue to carry and comfort us in the upcoming days and months as we continue our life with just his memory. 

Even so - MARANATHA