What a day that will be

My Grandpa New passed away this morning. He is now at peace in the Lord. Grandpa has been ready to go home for many years. Every time I visited him, he told me he wished the Lord would take him on home. Today, God answered that prayer.

As I mourn over this post, I also rejoice. Only a Christian can put those things together. In Christ, I have a hope. In Christ, I have joy that goes beyond the circumstance. Grandpa understood this. He knew in the Lord was his hope. The following song by Steven Curtis Chapman says exactly what I mean.

...Through the cloud of tears, I see the Father smile and say "well done."
And I imagine you where you wanted most to be,
Seeing all your dreams come true 'cause now you're home,
And now you're free.

We can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end,
And we can grieve with hope,
'Cause we believe with hope there's a place by God's grace,
There's a place where we'll see your face again.
We'll see your face again.

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true.

So we can cry with hope and say goodbye with hope.

We wait with hope and we ache with hope
We hold on with hope, we let go with hope.

You will be missed on this earth, Grandpa. But you are exactly where I long to be. Someday, we will be together again. As your favorite song says, "What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall. When I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace." And I can still hear you sing that song while sitting in your chair at home. Your voice was basically gone, but you still sang it will all your heart. I love you.