Such a busy week.

This afternoon, I was sitting down and looking at this blog, and I realized that it's been silent for several days now. I've done a pretty good job of keeping this thing semi-active since I launched it back in June; just a few breaks of silence now and then.

It's been a wild week around here. My senior pastor's father passed away yesterday, so our office has been busy with phone calls and preparation and discussions about the funeral next week. Tonight several of us are gathering at his house so we can spend time with him and his wife, along with his mom and other family members.

Loss is never easy. Anytime we lose a loved one, a part of us is gone. As Christians, we know that there's the opportunity to see that person again, if they also know Christ, yet we feel part of us is gone forever.

I've lost all 4 of my grandparents, as well as a stepgrandma. Frances (who married my dad's dad after they had both lost their spouses) was the last one to pass away, earlier this year.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the memories and the times I shared with my grandparents. I look back and wish I could relive some of those experiences. I wish I could ask my mom's dad, who was a pastor for many years, how he handled some of the "stuff" pastors deal with each day. I wish I could hear some of those stories now -- when my grandparents were alive, I wasn't involved in full-time ministry, so the tales didn't mean as much. Today, they'd be more meaningful -- especially this week.