The Duffy Family

Visiting...And Remembering That My God Is So Good

This past week we took a couple of days and the kids and I went to visit my grandmother. This was the first time we had gone back out there since September when my grandfather died. It was a little hard at times, but we really enjoyed our time there. It's always relaxing out there and this time was no different. When we got there the kids started playing right off. It didn't take long and Ella Kate asked us, "Where's Pa?" I wondered if she would do this. I was glad she remembered him. As much as I am afraid that with time she will forget (being so young), I was much encouraged that even after 4 months, she still remembered. Pa loved her and Eli so much! He'd get down on the floor with them and play, he'd cuddle them and tell them how much he loved them. Ma reminded her that Pa was in heaven to which Ella Kate replied, "Oh, yeah" and then went on playing. We enjoyed spending time there, reminiscing, and just doing the things we always do. There were those things though that I missed: where Ella Kate used to sit in Pa's lap and cuddle while she did her breathing treatment, she sat alone in his recliner and did it by herself. We ate our "country breakfast" of bacon and eggs and biscuits and remembered how Pa would grab his face and pretend to be "hurting" the food was so good...made the kids laugh every time. I could still hear his voice praying before every meal. Eli played inside mostly because it was cold and rainy, but I couldn' t help but know that if Pa were still with us, they would have bundled up and he would have HAD to take his boy out for a fourwheeler ride or two. Our last trip out there before Pa died, Eli went fishing with Pa for the first time. I am SO glad he got to do that. Eli remembers it and wants to go again. That was a special time not only for Eli but for me as well, because it was something I did with Pa when I was a little girl. He always was "doing" for us no matter how he felt and it was hard to make it through the day without a tear or two.

I spent time talking with Ma about those last few days in September. It was such a sweet time. Both of my grandmothers have told me about their last minutes with their husbands and it is a picture I will never erase from my mind's pallette. It is one of total devotion, unconditional love, and that "Song of Solomon" romance...so pure and beautiful to behold. I am so thankful for a family that values commitment, respects the sanctity of marriage, communicates an everpresent unconditional love for us, believes in the power of prayer, encourages Christ-likeness and has passed on those dire values to the generations that have followed. I pray that God grows me to be a person like my grandmothers. I pray that one day my grandchildren can look at my life and know that their God is so good. That was the last song we sang at Pa's funeral...God Is So Good...and oh how HE is!!!!!!!!

I Chronicles 16:34-Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 100:5
Psalm 106:1
Psalm 107:1
Psalm 118:1
Psalm 118:29
Psalm 136:1

Each of these verses above say the same thing: "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His faithful love endures forever." Usually when I say something more than once it's because I REALLY MEAN IT. How wonderful to know that God made it a point to say more than once that He is good and his love is unending and more than that...faithful. We have a good and faithful God. No matter what happens in my life...no matter my circumstances...I will choose to remember that my God is faithful and good, always and without question. Pa knew that and chose to cling to that regardless of his circumstance. What an example for those of us who remain. It spurs me on...to keep up the race until the day that my physical earthly race comes to an end, I see my Savior and fall down on my face in awe.