Blessings in our Families

Every day I wake up and thank God for the day, and soon to follow is thanking Him for my family. Families are priceless, and they are so unique. I feel like God has designed each of our families so perfectly, from bringing people together in marriage to designing their children. I think about my own parents, and how much they have given me in life, from physical blessings of a home and providing an education, to more important things like teaching me how to serve God ad others. I know that my parents had some of the same blessings from their own parents, and I realize how blessed I have been in my relationships with my Grandparents. Each of them have been so different, and each relationship has been different but special. Almost a month ago, on February 17, my Granddad passed on to be with our Father, somewhat unexpectedly. I love all of my grandparents very much, but he was a special one. I kind of felt like he was the Patriarch of our family, our leader and the one who has set an example to all of us on how to serve God and others. As much as I know he is in Paradise, no longer suffering, it is still such a hard thing to bear because I have been so sad that he is no longer here with us. It is such a conflict, I am so happy for him because he has his reward, what he has been living each day of his life for, yet so sad because I just wish he was here with us. There could never be enough good things said about him, because he was a man "without fault", just as God purposed us each to be. (Eph. 1:4) I just wanted to say a few things about him, because he was so special to all of us, and has done so much for our family, and those words are truly understatements of his role in our lives. The pictures below are from the week of his funeral, and some of the time our family spent together that week remembering the  wonderful times we had with our sweet Granddad, Jack Thompson.

Granddad when he was in high school.

This was a few years ago, at Jesse and Amber's going away party.

A couple of years ago at Christmas. :0)

This was this past Christmas, we gave him a pair of new house shoes, and some other good news....

That he was going to be a Great Granddad! This is one of my favorite pictures, he was so excited!

This still breaks my heart, I just wish he was here so much to see our little Jackson in a few months. But I know Jackson will know Granddad, even though he isn't here with us anymore.

Pooch comparisons with my cousin, Jesse.

Some of the most special people to me on this planet. This was at Granddad's visitation.

Meal before the funeral.

My mom, her sister and brother and some of their cousins.

Mom and Grandmom

My cousins and their wives before the funeral.

My mom, sister and aunt.

After the funeral.

Grandmom and her kiddos :0)

That night after the funeral we spent some time singing hymns to God as a family. It was the most perfect way to finish a day remembering Granddad. I will always remember Granddad's sweet tenor voice and how much he loved praising God.

That night, we had a cousin sleepover. It was so much fun! We used to have sleepovers at Grandmom and Granddad's house growing up and have so many memories of those days!

The next day, Grandmom, my mom, uncle and aunt and her caretaker released some balloons in memory of Granddad and the family.